A blue minibus roars through Freetown-Fall River State Forest and shatters the early morning silence. Ten teens and young adults emerge from the vehicle; their laughs and banter intensify as they breathe the crisp air breezing through the oak trees.

Tony Almeida, a 20-year-old dressed in black, seems standoffish—until he cracks a smile while chatting with his buddies. Once the group quiets down, he listens intently to instructions given by AMC’s Coleman Trails Challenge Coordinator Don Hoffses. Hoffses tells the workers they will “brush trail,” or remove all vegetation that encroaches upon the forest’s “no name trail.” The workers are to envision a 4-by-8-foot box in front of them and remove anything in that space.

Donning work boots, gloves, and a yellow hardhat, Almeida grabs a lopper and gets started. Invasive species and other obstacles are no match for him, as he plows through the path with the intensity of a tornado. He knows trail work is a far cry from his arrest at 17 for assault and battery with a deadly weapon.

After his release, “my mom wouldn’t let me back in the house,” says Almeida, who lives in Taunton, Mass. “I bounced from place to place, living on a day-to-day basis. I was involved with drug use and didn’t want to give it up. I was in and out of getting in trouble.”

In 2006, at the advice of a social worker, Almeida joined YouthBuild, an organization that helps low-income youth (ages 16 to 24) get their high school diploma or GED. Participants also learn job skills, primarily in construction and community upkeep. “They take you out of your comfort zone to see what you’re really made of,” he says.

Through partnerships with such organizations, AMC has introduced youths from urban settings to the natural environment. Trail maintenance and outdoor recreation—activities once foreign to them—offer the teens a chance to master new skills and build self-confidence.

“I had a lot of issues with people telling me they’re going to help me out but never lived up to that,” Almeida says. “[These groups] never did that, even when I pushed away.”

Almeida received his GED in April 2007. He’s performed 2,800 hours of community service and received the Spirit of Service award from the AmeriCorps program; he speaks nationally about his YouthBuild experience. He recently turned down a $50,000-a-year job as a forklift operator in order to remain a team leader with YouthBuild, making less than half that amount. “This is where I need to be—and I love it,” he says. “Instead of being a menace to my community, I get to be the change in my community.”

TRAIL TO RECOVERY
On the trail, Almeida is surrounded by teens clearing the narrow path. A fallen tree shaped like a “Y” blocks the trail, and two YouthBuilders begin cutting it with a handsaw. One worker uses all his elbow grease but barely makes it halfway through the wood. Another teen, who goes by “JP,” starts cutting from a different angle. “Why is this one so thick?” he asks. A supervisor arrives at the scene and lifts the trunk with his boot to give JP more leverage. Determination has set in, and he saws for nearly five minutes until the piece breaks off. JP removes the blockade from the path, catches his breath, and presses on.

“This thing’s as heavy as a car!” shouts Priscilla Vega, a Fall River resident who is working on her own log a few feet away. She’s aggravated that the muddied trail doesn’t provide any traction while she attempts to relocate the wood. Another teen immediately arrives, and they use their brute strength to chuck the log into the brush. “We did it!” says Vega, her mood immediately lifted.

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