4th of July

by Dawn Hasbrouck
LOWELL (WBZ) ― A young soldier from Lowell who rose above a troubled childhood to find self-confidence and success, is now determined to help other kids in his neighborhood do the same.

He helps teens with math homework, spends hours on the basketball court with neighborhood kids and offers advice about the challenges of growing up. Kevin LaPointe is a visible presence in North Common Village, Lowell's largest public housing complex.

"There's a lot of drugs and prostitution and hookers and things like that all over the place," Kevin told WBZ-TV's Dawn Hasbrouk. "Gangs and violence."

Kevin LaPointe is 20-years-old. While most young men his age spend their free time hanging around with friends, Kevin is devoted to keeping neighborhood kids stay in school and out of trouble.

Kids like Hector Berrios. "He made sure I went to school," said Berrios. "He was like a father to me. If he wasn't around to help me get out of trouble, I wouldn't be here right now."

Kevin has lived most of his life in North Common Village with his mom and his sister. He knows first hand how easy it is for kids to find trouble here.

"It's so much easier to go down the wrong path than the right path," Kevin said.

"His teen years, he had some very rough years... Well, pre-teens. Very rough," said Kevin's mom, Tracy Courchaine. Kevin battled depression and struggled in school, repeating the 9th grade twice.

"Once I started to fail, everyone looked at me as a failure," he recalled.

Kevin could have fallen through the cracks, but he didn't. He found Casey Family Services, funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. It's an organization that just may have saved Kevin's life.

At Casey, social workers help inner city kids build their self-esteem.

"He stepped to the plate from the very beginning," social worker Joan Matuzzi said of Kevin. "He became one of them, who then became a leader."

With that boost of confidence, Kevin graduated from high school with honors, got a full-time job, and joined the National Guard. But he still spends most of his free time volunteering for the organization that helped him find his way.

"We all trust him for advice," one of the kids at Casey told WBZ. "Anything we need, we know we could go to him."

This spring Kevin won a national award for his work with the kids of Lowell, an honor that Mayor William Martin was proud to recognize at a recent city council meeting.

"Kevin's dedication and commitment to Casey Family Services in the community exemplifies the essence of patriotism and citizenship," Martin said.

In just a few days, the kids of North Common Village will be without that model citizen. Kevin's National Guard unit is being called up for duty in Iraq. He leaves the day before his 21st birthday.

"Anybody who's not afraid or not nervous wouldn't be human," Kevin said of his next call to service. He's anxious, but says he's up for the challenge and he's proud to serve his country.

For the kids, saying goodbye will be tough. "I hope nothing happens to him," one teen told us.

"I'm going to miss you homey," Hector Berrios told Kevin.

Kevin's unit will spend a little more than a year in Iraq, but he says he will be back, because helping these kids is part of who he is.

"It fills a lot of holes in yourself. It's hard to explain if you've never done it. Not a lot more rewarding than that."

Kevin says he owes much of his success to Casey Family Services, which is funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, an organization dedicated to helping at risk children. You can find out more about the foundation by visiting their web site at aecf.org.

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