By Lisa Zimmerman | Engagement Insider
Michael Vick knows he’s made mistakes. Big mistakes. He served 18 months in prison after being convicted for his involvement in an illegal dog-fighting operation. He also knows some people will never forgive him for that or give him a second chance.
However, that is not deterring him from now trying to keep children in his hometown of Newport News, Virginia from making some of the same mistakes he made.
Vick’s prowess as a quarterback led him out of Newport News to Virginia Tech where he was drafted with the first overall pick by the Atlanta Falcons in the 2001 NFL Draft. He always maintained strong ties to the Newport News community and made decisions that ultimately led to his incarceration. But, unlike many, that’s not where Vick’s story ended.
Upon his release from prison, Vick re-entered the league in 2009 with the Philadelphia Eagles and decided to start his foundation, TeamVick.org, as a way to structure his efforts toward helping and teaching the children in Newport News who were growing up in similar circumstances to the ones he grew up in.
His main goal is to change the way these children look at things. Rather than focus on the problems, he wants them to focus on the possibilities.
“It’s about what people in that area don’t do,” he said. “Where I grew up, all you hear about is people dying. With kids, there’s so much talent, but [there aren’t the opportunities] to take it a step further and that’s disappointing. You have so many kids who come from outside our area who go on to college, but you don’t see that in Newport News.”
Vick is as hands-on with his foundation work as his schedule allows, especially with organizations like the Boys and Girls Clubs. He encourages children to create goals so that they don’t lapse into the negative patterns that some of their peers get drawn into because they simply don’t see any other options.
“I want them to be so focused in the computer lab that they’re worried about getting their homework done,” he said. “They’re worried about what they’re going to do when they get home, what they’re going to do in school the next day. They’re not worried about the negativity that can be a hindrance in their mind.”
Vick knows that laying that groundwork of planning and preparedness will create vastly different possibilities for these children’s lives. When asked what the turning point was for him in coming to this realization he offered a simple, blunt answer, “Prison."
He acknowledged how different of a person he was then as far as his self-awareness went. “I didn’t have a clue of what I would tell a kid [then] because I wasn’t doing the right thing myself. That was the culture I grew up in. I became the product of my environment. I never got away from it.”
But, those 18 months in 2007 and 2008 were the epiphany Vick needed to re-set the course of his own life and he recognized that he also had the ability to re-set the course of other people’s lives before they made an irreversible mistake.
That realization that he no longer had to be the product of his environment gave him a new lease on life. He committed himself not only to being responsible for his own actions and changing the way of thinking he grew up with, but imparting that philosophy on others. His main goal is to affect the youth in Newport News through programs where he can provide motivation and encouragement to instill strength in these children to make better decisions.
“There’s a world outside of what they know,” he said. “I’m trying to open their eyes. You can go to Virginia Tech; you can go to the University of Virginia. Don’t be afraid to leave where you grew up, the environment where you feel comfortable. There’s more to life than that.”
Initially Vick funded the foundation entirely with his own money. However, the organization has gained traction and, in addition to hosting fundraisers, Vick has partnered with companies in the Newport News area who are providing money and resources to help expand the foundation’s reach and provide even more assistance to children in the community. In June, the first Team Vick Weekend was held in Newport News. It was a three-day event that encompassed several fundraisers along with a football camp for children.
And regardless of where he is, Vick is hands-on, coordinating events like the new backpack giveaway being launched this year, which provides children with school supplies they need for the upcoming year. In fact, Vick has been helping direct this initiative from the New York Jets training camp.
So while he can’t change his past, Vick is changing his future and hopes to make a positive change to the future of others.
For more information about Michael Vick’s foundation: www.mikevickweekend.org or www.teamvick.org.