Lawrence Youth Mentor Ace Vasquez Honored By Celtics

LAWRENCE, MA — As a young man, Angel "Ace" Vasquez was in a gang and spent time in jail. Today, he is the "mentor whisperer," making a difference in young lives by mentoring and recruiting other mentors, for the Amigos Mentoring Program with Family Services of the Merrimack Valley. He has recruited over fifteen mentors, and affected dozens of kids lives.

Wednesday night, the Boston Celtics honored Vasquez, as a "Hero Among Us," at their game against the San Antonio Spurs. Vasquez won the award as part of National Mentoring Month.

"I appreciate what I'm getting, but I'm always thinking about the youth first," said Vasquez. "This is so they can get inspired. I'm in the business of saving lives"

Vasquez explained that the youth he has mentored were inspired by his award.

"Wow Angel, you were locked up, an ex-felon. You changed your life, you got your record sealed, you mentor us, you help us, and now look at you," he paraphrased.

Vasquez grew up in Lawrence and Puerto Rico. He was at one point involved with a gang, and he spent almost three years in jail, he said. But soon after he got out of jail, he started working with kids, first as a camp counselor at the YMCA.

"I noticed I would understand me. They would give me all the troubled youth, the kids who had ADHD," Vasquez said. "I noticed they really listened to me."

Eventually, Vasquez became a street outreach coordinator and mentor, with two local organizations, working with 16- to 25-year-olds.

"I had this connection with these kids. I would take the time to listen to them. I know where they come from. I know that poverty is the number one creator of gangs," Vasquez said. "These kids started opening up to me, really listening to me and respecting me."

Vasquez is now 42, though, and decided he couldn't do street outreach forever — "it has to be people young enough to be connected to the kids" — and recently he joined Amigos, as a coordinator. It's with Amigos that he has become the "mentor whisperer," recruiting 15 mentors in less than a year. He still mentors two kids himself through the program, plus others on the side, but most of his work now is arranging other mentorships.

"Lawrence is predominantly Dominican, Puerto Rican, and Caribbean," Vasquez said. "I try to be as culturally aware as possible. [By pairing up kids and mentors] I can show them, not all Dominicans, not all Puerto Ricans are criminals. I can show them there's a lot of our people who are successful."

For example, he said, he had paired a Haitian kid with a Haitian mentor, when the kid and his mother did not know any other Haitians in the area.

"I got him a great mentor. The mom is so happy," Vasquez said.

For Vasquez, the Celtics honor was just part of his work: His own success can set an example for the kids he mentors. Not that the honor isn't exciting, he said.

"It's still surreal to me," Vasquez said.

"I want to put my city on the map. It's not just fentanyl and gangsters. We have good people, that are helping people."

Vasquez encouraged anyone in the Merrimack Valley who wants to get involved in mentoring youth to contact him, at 978-509-8056.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.