Free & Alive Beyond 25: Ricky Aiken’s Mission to Save Young Men | Ep. 11

When Ricky Aiken was growing up in West Palm Beach, his male role models were the neighborhood dope dealers. He knows what that does to a boy.

Today, he runs Inner City Innovators — a boots-on-the-ground non-profit organization that shows up at shooting scenes, Started Hope Dealers that operate in the highest-violence neighborhoods in South Florida, and gives young men something real to belong to before the street claims them.

The numbers don’t lie:

86% of ICI mentees are not charged with a new crime after joining

93% say they feel more hopeful and better able to handle life’s challenges

88% show improved behavioral health

This is not a polished nonprofit story. This is a man who was headed toward a very different ending and chose to become a Hope Dealer instead.

We talk about where he grew up, who wasn’t there, the friends he lost, the path he was on, and the moment Johnny Davis’s death turned grief into mission. We talk about what it actually looks like to show up at a shooting scene. What a young man looks like when he first walks in the door and what he looks like a year later.

And at the end, Ryan asks Ricky one question for the young man watching this right now who grew up without a father, who has nobody showing up for him, who doesn’t know Ricky Aiken exists.

His answer is worth staying for.

DONATE TO INNER CITY INNOVATORS: 👉 https://innercityinnovators.org/donate

This episode’s only call to action donating to Ricky’s mission. If this conversation moves you do something with it. DONATE NOW

INNER CITY INNOVATORS Website: https://innercityinnovators.org Instagram: @inner.city.innovators

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/innercityinnovators

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