A Major Life Change From Convict to Counselor in Six Years

WHITESBORO — Imagine meeting a man whose life made a 180-degree turn, past to present. What would he be like? How could he help mentor young people? What impact would his past have on their future?
Meet Daniel Auld who, in six years, went from being a convict for drug possession serving time at Southern State Correction Facility to a certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor who graduated in June with an associate’s degree in social work from Atlantic Cape Community College, and who plans to complete his college education at Thomas Edison State College.
Auld, 45, is proud to say he is a member of Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society, and is considering an officer’s post with the Cape May County NAACP branch.
Most recently, Auld has worked with youth at Martin Luther King Community Center, West Main Street, where he believes he is connecting with young people, and guiding them away from the failed lifestyle he once lived.
An Ocean City native, Auld, at age 13 in 1977, headed a gang known as Black Destruction. Two years later, he was arrested and named as head of that gang. His choices: Reform school or leave town. His parents, grieved over his choice to leave town, he said.
In South Carolina, he started another gang which engaged in car burglaries to drug trafficking from South Carolina to Miami and to New Jersey.
That chapter of Auld’s life left him “shot and left for dead.”
During a 12-year sentence for robbery in North Jersey, Auld, “first recognized my spirituality and became a Muslim, then I denounced Islam and became a Christian,” he said.
It was not until Auld appeared before Superior Court Judge Carmen Alvarez in 2004, in hopes of being released, that he began to change.
“She looked at me from the bench and said, ‘I believe you have a serious drug problem. It will harm you more for me to send you back to the street. For your safety and that of the community, I deny ROR (release on own recognizance)’” said Auld.
The denial, he said, placed him in a drug program and “something I was never offered before.”
At that point, he decided to turn his life over to God. He penned a letter to the judge, and noted how she had actually cared about him “as a human being. By her decision that morning, she showed she had compassion,” recalled Auld.
That was the first step toward a better life for him, he said. Armed with all the knowledge from that past, he knows he can offer young people sage advice.
“I have to pay forward to the community,” said Auld in a recent interview. Working in cooperation with King Center Director Robert Matthews, Auld has, among his new goals in life, worked to guide youths into a process of making better choices.
Those young people, so impressionable, hear straight from Auld “what the heat of a bullet is like as it pierces your body,” and “What were the end results of my bad choices, prison and injuries?” he said.
“I want to show them that, if they make a mistake,” said Auld, “They don’t have to continue in that mistake.”
Some of the young men with whom he works are beginning to learn the importance of education, assuming responsibility, and setting a right course for their lives.
Auld has assumed the responsibility of picking some of them up in the morning, taking them to work, and making sure, they learn from those jobs and tasks.
One of the facets, he said, is that of paying him $20 a week toward gas for his car. That fee, he said, is not to make him money, but to teach responsibility, and learn that nothing in life is free.
The Christian religion has played a major role in helping Auld change his life, he said.
When he first began working with youth in the Bridges Program at Great Commission Baptist Church, Swainton, in 2007, he was excited about the concept of working with youth and helping them make right decisions on life’s path.
Today, he clings ever greater to that belief.
“My faith has allowed me to be a light to so many kids,” said Auld. “I am thankful to the kids for allowing me to become what I am today.”
“I do not believe you mentor kids by dictating, but by giving them the driver’s seat, finding out what their interests are, and building on that,” said Auld.
Since he has worked at King Center for the past seven or eight months, Auld said he has seen a change as the young people come and go.
Among those changes he perceives more respect for the facility.
He watches youths play basketball, and notices that, if some want to engage in “negative activity,” those things “are not done there. It is not a hangout for negative activity,” he said.
While watching those basketball games, Auld realizes another fact: “We are not doing enough for the youth in the community. As leaders, we need to be more directly involved with youth,” said Auld.
“They want to play basketball and have fun, but they want access to more things,” he said.
“I would love to see the community provide free things for them to do,” said Auld.
He cited the $60 registration fee for township recreation football as being somewhat out of reach for some families.
“If the parents have to pay, most kids won’t get to participate,” he offered.
Auld was grateful to LaMar Greer, who returned home last month to hold a basketball camp for youths at his alma mater Middle Township High School.
Auld took six youngsters to the camp, and was impressed with Greer’s degree of professionalism with those young people.
“He never asked for money,” said Auld. Instead, he allowed parents to make a donation, if they were able to do so.
“The kids I took there wear his shirt proudly. They thank me for getting them there.
“What we need are more adults to take an interest in the kids in Whitesboro,” Auld continued.
While the youths in surrounding communities have similar needs, Auld said there is an even greater need for adult-youth links in Whitesboro.
“The kids are really trying,” he added. “We can help them make better choices. They are saying, ‘You, as a community leader or activist, should give us other choices to do,” he added.
He hopes to land a small office somewhere in the area where he can counsel and mentor youths. He hopes to offer them drug and alcohol counseling or talk about changing behavior.
“Is anyone willing to step up?” he asked.
Again, he used the “pay forward” phrase, saying it is not just a financial term, but also something for today’s adults to consider for younger people.
“Oprah does a great job, but she’s not here listening to the problems each kid has,” said Auld.
“She can dump money into a program, but unless an individual takes an interest, you have missed that child,” said Auld.
He lauded the efforts of the Concerned Citizens of Whitesboro, Inc. that, in cooperation with Middle Township Board of Education, Middle Township Recreation Department and community volunteers, including himself, helped youngsters in the Homework Club, which ended another season in June.
“My faith as a Christian has led me out of some dark times,” he said. Now he hopes that some of the light he sheds will help other adults see the need, and step forward to assist young people.
“I would ask anyone in the community, if you have a program, and want to help mentor a football or soccer or lacrosse team, it’s not hard to take an interest,” said Auld.
Auld believes in action first and foremost.
As he pondered accepting a post with the local NAACP chapter, he said he told branch officials he believes it is a great organization, “but I believe it is lacking in what it can be,” said Auld.
“If I decide to join, I have to have a direct role to bring the community together. It has to be more than a name. We have to be active in our young peoples’ eyes,” he said.
Auld is proud of the respect earned working with local children.
“Depending on where I am, they call me Uncle Dan, Coach Dan or Mr. Dan.,” said Auld.
“My faith is my guiding light to all I do. I know that inside me, change happened,” he said.
He pointed to past flaws, and added, “We can go on from that.”
“We must become one people,” said Auld.
“I am only trying to prune the roses that they may blossom,” said Auld with a smile of satisfaction. “I respect them, and they respect what I am trying to do,” he continued.
“When anyone puts a stigma on Whitesboro that is not good. They are tearing down a life. Let us not put our kids down, let us lift them up, as a community coming together for the advancement of all our children,” said Auld.
“Our children are no longer looking at color. Yet they still hear this at home. We must be conscious of what we tell the kids.
“I see a blossom flowering in Whitesboro, wanting change, wanting to get an education. Hopefully, we can do more,” said Auld.
Contact Campbell at (609) 886-8600 Ext 28 or at: al.c@cmcherald.com