“It all began for me with KPEP. I am who I am today because of what I was then.”
More than 25 years ago as a teenaged drug dealer, Jason Meister spent time at KPEP. He has come a long way since that time but says that he is constantly reminded of his experiences and how they helped shape his life.
Recently, at the invitation of CEO Bill DeBoer, Jason spoke to a group of residents at KPEP to relate his experience and talk about what he learned from it.
As an eighth-grade dropout from the Lansing area, Jason began dealing drugs to support himself. He left his middle-class home at 15, fleeing from what he describes as “hateful, dysfunctional parents” to make his own way. “I became the best bad guy I could be out of a sense of survival. If I saw that people had expectations that I was a hoodlum, I acted the part. After all, I had nothing to lose – no education, no home, no job skills.”
At 17, after living mostly on the streets, he tried to sell drugs to officers and got arrested. He was sent to KPEP, which was a relatively new program at the time, far smaller than the KPEP of today.
Jason says he immediately “took notice of the rules” in abundance at KPEP, and because he was accustomed to manipulating rules to his own advantage, had a hard time accepting the strictness of the way the rules were applied. “I quickly learned that the rules apply to everyone without exception and that I could either follow the rules or accept the consequences.”
Though living under the multitude of rules was difficult for him, Jason notes that nothing would have changed for him had he not, for the first time in his life, met people who truly cared about him. “I don’t think I would have been successful without some key people. They treated me differently than I had ever been treated.”
In particular, he remembers two counselors who showed genuine interest in him. They “always listened to me, never threw my past in my face, never held it against me, never treated me like I was nothing. This was new to me, to have someone care about what I was doing. I latched on to that and I didn’t want to disappoint them. All I ever wanted was one person to give a darn, so I would have a reason to do the right thing, to not let them down.”
Jason eventually found work at McDonalds, where he met his future wife. Her parents, especially her father, took an active role in his life and provided acceptance, guidance and support.
Today Jason has come far from that lonely, confused teenaged boy and is a successful family man with a good job at AT&T, nice home and comfortable life. He looks upon his good fortune with wonder and gratitude, and works hard to “pay it forward.” He’s involved with mentoring through his church, has been a Big Brother and has adopted two of his children from foster care.
Jason believes that all of the good he has had in his life has come from his KPEP experience and tries to model the kind of help and caring he received at KPEP.
“It really was a privilege to go to KPEP, though I didn’t realize it at the time. I had the opportunity to get a GED, go to counseling, build relationships, get job training, plus have a roof over my head and three meals a day. I would never have done those things on my own. KPEP gave me structure, accountability, people who kept their word, and cared about what I was doing.”