IN THE MIX:Stepping away from gang life

One day in 1997, Pepe Montenegro reached his hand out to the Muniz family and pulled them out of a nightmare.

At that time, he was saving the life of 17-year-old Pepe Muniz, a student who attended Costa Mesa, Back Bay and Horizon high schools. Since then Montenegro has worked nearly every school day with children who are struggling with decisions that will shape their lives.

He sees students who are mirroring the gang life they admire. He explains to them the pitfalls of gangs and the benefits of an education and the opportunities it will bring.

Back in ‘97, Muniz was a dropout and already too familiar with the justice system. He had just walked out of juvenile hall and was facing a possible 12 years if he got into more trouble.

Muniz said he had had about enough of the life he was living and the pain he was putting his family through.

“It was seeing my mom and dad. I had never seen my dad cry,” he said. “I wasn’t getting anywhere. I thought there had to be more than gang banging.”

That’s when his little brother Luis took advantage of Muniz’ desire to change and told him to contact Montenegro. That’s when life got a bit brighter in the Muniz household.

Luis, who had never been in any trouble, knew Montenegro from Costa Mesa High School. He was a gang counselor with the Newport Mesa Unified School District.

Muniz said he started meeting with Montenegro once a week and that he slowly figured out that the counselor wasn’t like the others who had said they wanted to help him in the past. He could trust Montenegro.

Montenegro talked openly with Muniz about his former life as a gang member. Muniz said Montenegro even brought him and a few others to his old stomping grounds to show where he came from.

“When I saw he’s for real I thought, ‘He knows what it takes to … get out,’ ” he said.

Montenegro understands the need for the young people he counsels to trust him.

He knows that when they see his tattoos and hear his stories they realize he has gone through what they are going through and knows the difficulties they are trying to overcome.

“They need to know they can trust me,” he said. “They want to test me.”

Montenegro began his climb out of gang life when he was 16 and had been sent to a drug rehabilitation center.

He became involved with Victory Outreach, a program that focuses on turning around troubled lives through religion.

He said even at his young age he would help others in drug programs through counseling.

“I would tell them my story and then I’d say, ‘Let’s pray now.’”

From there, he began going to high schools with Victory Outreach to talk to troubled kids. He traveled throughout California and eventually across the globe talking to gang members about Jesus and about changing their lives —apparently they have gang issues in London and France, too.

He said sometimes young gang bangers weren’t interested and occasionally were violent. He has had guns pulled on him and threats made.

“I had to learn to step up for the Lord, not be a quitter,” he said.

Eventually, Montenegro added book smarts to his street smarts and received a master’s degree in clinical psychology from Vanguard University. He’s been a gang/crisis counselor with the district for 11 years.

At the district he can practice his belief that preventive measures are more effective than intervention, but he maintains hope for gang members who want change.

For Muniz, change meant more than talking with Montenegro.

He had to drop his friends. Not so simple for a guy who was used to using his friends to fill the time that his parents were away from home at one of their two jobs each. But he did it. He walked away.

He began spending his time with his brother, sister, girlfriend and Montenegro.

“The next thing you know, I didn’t need my friends,” he said.

He ultimately married his girlfriend and the couple now have two young children. The 28-year-old works for a reprographics company and is building up a clothing line called 1503 — which stands for O.C. (the numbers correspond to the letters in the alphabet).

Montenegro is proud of Muniz but his work is hardly done. He is busy finding the kids who want a better life than gang banging will bring.

He’s also busy making sure parents step up to their role in their kids’ lives.

Sometimes the schools, now with the help of Project ASK counselors like Montenegro, have to track down parents and convince them to get more involved.

Montenegro told me the story of calling the dad of a boy who was going downhill at school. He said this father was telling him that his kid was a little rebellious, but he was good at home.

“The guy says the kid’s OK but really he’s a bully to girls at school and he likes the gang lifestyle.”

He said it took a bit of bullying of the dad before he admitted there was a problem and agreed that he would do whatever it takes to turn his son’s life around.

For that family, it meant parenting classes. For some it means counseling or pairing up with mentors. Montenegro will push parents to do whatever it takes to help these children realize their dreams.