Omar Cephas

Youth outreach worker who meets kids on the corners he once stood on

Service

SAMPLE PROFILE — FILM SLOT

His story is coming to the series soon.

Out of Decatur

Omar Cephas came up in Decatur with his mother working doubles and his father a rumor. By fifteen he was on a corner holding things for older guys, feeling grown. A juvenile arrest at sixteen didn't scare him. The second one did.

What turned him wasn't the system. It was a man named Pete who ran a rec center and kept letting Omar in even after he got caught stealing from the snack bar.

I was you. Same corner, same attitude. Somebody kept showing up for me, so now I show up.

Showing Up

He moved to Champaign at twenty-four for a job that fell through, then found part-time hours at the Don Moyer Boys & Girls Club. Part time became full time. Full time became his life's work.

Now he's a youth outreach coordinator. He knows which kids didn't eat, which house has trouble in it, which corner is heating up. He does it the way Pete did it. He keeps letting kids in, even the ones who steal from the snack bar.

Especially them.