Mentor making a difference

Tyrone BrownEL hasn't had a lot of luck in his life.

By the time he was 15, he had repeatedly spent time in King County's juvenile detention. He says he has been charged with everything from shoplifting to possession of narcotics to having stolen checks. School was erratic, broken by frequent scrapes with the law.

But at least he has Leon Jackson on his side.

Last year, Jackson officially became BrownEL's mentor. Since then, Jackson has let BrownEL live at his South Seattle house for two months after things got rocky at home. The 71-year-old has met with a judge, school officials and a probation officer, among others. Every day, Jackson checks in with the young man, now 16, dispensing encouragement and jokes mixed with firm reminders to stay on the straight road.

"We have been blessed. We need more Mr. Leon Jacksons," said BrownEL's mother, Roianne Bobo.

Now, people are learning of Jackson's quiet devotion to BrownEL, because United Way of King County has named Jackson Outstanding Mentor of the Year. He was applauded yesterday at The Guiding Lights Weekend, a two-day conference about mentoring held at Seattle Center.

Looking back, it seems only natural.

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To learn more about local mentoring opportunities: www.uwkc.org/volunteer/default.asp

Jackson had become BrownEL's de facto mentor several years earlier, when the two lived next door to each other. Jackson gave the youth a chance to make some extra money helping do maintenance work at the retirement home where Jackson worked.

Even after BrownEL's family moved, he trusted Jackson enough that when he was arrested on shoplifting charges at the Northgate Mall, he had police call Jackson to pick him up.

Jackson hadn't officially taken on the title "mentor." But he kept thinking about a talk he heard at his church, Cherry Hill Baptist. Michael Jackson, a former Seattle Seahawks football player, told worshippers that African Americans needed to take care of each other because they faced some of the biggest challenges and yet got some of the least help from others, recalled Jackson, who is not related to the former football player.

"I've always been blessed with good health, a good job, good family. And I said, 'Hey, I'm who he's talking to,' " said Jackson, who retired from Boeing after working there 38 years.

He was paired with his former neighbor by the 4C Coalition, a Seattle-based group that recruits adult mentors to help young people in the juvenile-justice system. Jackson was looking to help someone. BrownEL was in a 12-month treatment program that gives him a chance to have part of his criminal record cleared.

"They help me stay out of trouble," BrownEL said of those operating the program.

It hasn't been easy.

Early on, Jackson realized it was going to take more than the occasional visit to help BrownEL straighten out. So Jackson met with school and court officials to talk about what it would take. He and BrownEL's mother drove him to a chemical-dependency program in Yakima. And when BrownEL was kicked out of that, Jackson helped him get into another program, which BrownEL completed in December.

"I don't like to fail," Jackson explained.

Jackson now counts BrownEL as his fifth grandkid, the other four coming from the son and daughter he raised. Sometimes he brings the young man to church with him, or to a family barbecue.

For his part, BrownEL describes Jackson as his friend. He just got a job working at a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Renton, and is attending Renton High School. In two months, he expects to finish the 12-month treatment program. He hopes to earn enough money to buy a car from an uncle and fix it up. Jackson, whose hobby is working on cars, might help.

Warren Cornwall: 206-464-2311 or wcornwall@seattletimes.com