Young adult program helps New London teen stay off the streets
It's hard to believe 19-year-old Jonathan Lopez Jr. has had a bad day in his life.
To see him flinging jokes and nicknames inside Sound Community Service's AXS Center for young adults, and to hear him talk about his plans for the future, one would think he's always had it together.
Appearances can be deceiving when it comes to mental health.
It was less than a year ago, in November 2018, that Lopez, anxious, depressed and out of focus after graduating from New London High School, found himself sitting in a holding cell at city police headquarters, facing a felony weapons charge.
The short version of his story: "I wasn't thinking."
In March 2017, during his junior year, his father, Jonathan A. Lopez, had been detained during a court appearance and deported to the Dominican Republic.
"Difficult things happen," Lopez Jr. said. "You have to keep your head high."
Released on house arrest following his November 2018 arrest, he applied for accelerated rehabilitation, a diversionary program that enables first-time offenders to avoid a criminal record.
He was allowed to go to the AXS program for young adults at Sound Community Services, where he found therapy and people that understood what he was experiencing. Members of the community wrote letters to the judge on his behalf, and Orlando Ramos, Sound Community's healthy transition coordinator, advocated for him at the courthouse.
In February 2019, a judge granted Lopez accelerated rehabilitation, ordered him to perform community service and to write five pages on gun violence in the United States. If he stays out of trouble, the charge will be dismissed in February 2021.
Lopez works at the Guess store in the Tanger Outlets at Foxwoods Resort Casino, where his manager says he is one of her best employees, and he recently was hired at Two Trees Inn on the Mashantucket Reservation. Eventually, he plans to become an electrician or tradesman of some kind, perhaps working at Electric Boat.
Though he's one of the younger clients at AXS, which serves 18- to 25-year-olds, Lopez is considered a leader by the staff.
He also mentors fifth-graders at the Winthrop School.
"I want to be a role model, to show these kids, 'I'm from New London. I've battled adversity. I didn't let my environment, everything I saw, make me into this person, let it mold me.'"
Comment threads are monitored for 48 hours after publication and then closed.
