Leading the Charge
One Man Transforms a Community
As a boy raised walking the streets of South Central Los Angeles, Alfred Lomas took steps into manhood at a young age. In a land described by Lomas as the “wild wild west,” where the law is as simple as “kill or be killed,” the cowboys of the streets are the members of gangs. Once available like an independent contractor, Lomas served as a hired gun to the highest bidder, no matter the neighborhood, no matter the risk, no matter the consequence.
“Freed from that mentality of violence,” Lomas has dedicated his life to the revitalization of the suffering communities of South Central. Motivated by the atrocities witnessed with his own eyes, his new found faith fuels him to be a catalyst for change. Optimistic and hopeful, Lomas sees neighborhoods in the future where children grow in safety, looking up to positive role models and are raised by responsible parents allowing both to interact within their community in a way that is healthy.
Choosing a life of “humility and servitude, “ Lomas makes himself available to not only the citizens of the inner city but also to the volunteers that help along his side. Not granted authority for leadership by traditional certification or schooling, the council Lomas has to offer is sought after because of his charisma and zeal for learning and teaching alike.
Once a member himself in the very rehabilitation program that now employs him, Lomas works as a site leader for the South Central area as well as a driver for a food delivery truck. Having been released from prison with few more than the clothes on his back, a handful of spending cash and some new tattoos, Lomas has taken leaps and bounds into improving his situation.
In the end, it will not be his attitude or even his actions that attests to the communities new life but the testaments of stomachs no longer empty, knees not trembling from the cold and hearts warmed with needed affection that will speak of the difference Lomas has made.