By Bruce Barton

Richard Santana describes his transformation from onetime gang member to Harvard graduate.

A police officer made the announcement that the guest speaker couldn’t make it to the annual Challenge Team breakfast last Thursday. Another speaker, handcuffed and in street gang attire, would be taking his place.

The man, speaking before a packed audience of schools, city and law enforcement leaders, had officers remove the cuffs before his talk. Silence filled the large convention room at Michaels at Shoreline restaurant, where the event was held.

“I ain’t got no parents,” the young man said, a red bandana on his head, sunglasses over his eyes. “Someone like me is going through some kind of messed-up situation.

“The juvenile justice system - I hated everything about it,” he said angrily. “They never asked me what I wanted. They said, ‘This will be good for you.’”

With no one around for real support, the man turned to gang life. “I did drugs and violence because that’s what I was supposed to do,” he said.

Then he asked a question of the Challenge Team, whose members collaborate to address substance abuse and gang problems: “Would someone like you be there for me? Not to feel pity, but to be there for me?”

Someone did come forward, and “got connected to me through my music,” he said. The bandana came off. “This is just a symbol. I used to believe my life was worth this. I paid a dollar for this. All of a sudden, I was starting to feel like I was worth millions of dollars.”

Off came the shades. Then the long, dark jacket and jeans he was wearing. Underneath was a man in a business suit and tie.

“I am Richard Santana,” he said, revealing the identity of the scheduled speaker. Santana, a former gang member, went on to Harvard University, where he earned a master’s degree.

“I was not supposed to be a Harvard graduate,” he said. “I was supposed to be dead.”

He has since dedicated his life to helping others like him. “I have to be there for them. I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for someone like you.”

Santana’s dramatic speech highlighted a morning event that also recognized two local leaders, Oscar Garcia of Mountain View and Bob Adams of Los Altos, for their work with at-risk youth.

Garcia, like Santana, went on to higher education despite humble beginnings. One of a family of 12 from Mexico, he attended UC Berkeley and founded the community advocacy group Mesa de la Comidad in Mountain View. The group provides services to schools and is currently organizing a citywide Olympics, scheduled for June 4.

Adams, a longtime member of the Rotary Club of Los Altos and the Los Altos Community Foundation, founded Partners for New Generations, a group that matches adult mentors with high school students having trouble adjusting as they grow older. He also started a basketball team at Alta Vista High School, a continuation school for at-risk students in the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District.

“Bob can take these individuals and make them into a team, so they can then better function as individuals,” said Alta Vista Principal Bill Pierce in introducing Adams.

“When you reach out and volunteer to help somebody reach their goals - that’s the reason to volunteer and help,” Adams said. “Go out and find somebody who will go out and help somebody.”

The Challenge Team, headed by Gay Krause of the Krause Center for Innovation at Foothill College, also awarded Rich Fischer, superintendent of the high school district, with a lifetime achievement award for his years of participation. Fischer is retiring at the end of the school year.

For more information about the Challenge Team, visit www.challengeteam.org.