Coach Oscar Medina works with some of his students at the Medina Boxing Club recently. Medina’s "Kick Conflict" program, a partnership with Wisconsin Community Services, works with at-risk youths and others in a structured environment, teaching conflict resolution to people in gangs and those struggling with other issues in life.

BROOKFIELD - Stephen Kroll of Waukesha spent a recent Monday night working out in Medina’s Boxing Club in a program some are sent to but he is attending by choice.

Although Kroll, 16, isn’t in a gang, he said he knows people who are, and he would recommend Medina’s "Kick Conflict" program to youths in need of some direction.

"It keeps myself out of trouble, keeps me off the street," he said. "It’s a good workout, and you get to fight in competition."

Coach Oscar Medina’s program is one avenue offered to youths who get into trouble. Partnering with Wisconsin Community Services and funded by community development block grants and the United Way, Medina’s program not only provides structure by requiring participants to follow all the rules placed on them, it sees him go above and beyond, working with adults in need of guidance and even parents, too.

The program incorporates boxing and exercise into a curriculum that also includes conflict resolution classes.

A steadying influence

Medina estimated he’s coached more than 1,000 youths in his 20 years in the gym, and about 70 percent to 80 percent of them were able to stay out of major trouble afterward. Some of them, he said, have brought their own children to Medina’s gym, looking to keep them on the right path.

Medina credits his connection with youths and families to being authentic: He has lived through serious challenges in his life - in the vernacular, he’s been there, he said - and knows when youths are trying to "play" him.

"The whole goal is to give kids a positive environment and make them aware of the choices in the community," he said. "My part is to be the life coach or from the school of hard knocks, things social workers can’t do in class."

Medina said a large component of why youths turn to gangs is because of a lack of parental involvement in their lives in an age of longer work hours. He said he sees parents trying to correct a child’s behavior when the youth is a teen, efforts that should have been in place since the beginning. He tells parents it is them, not the police or social workers, with the power to change their children’s lives.

"They are expecting answers from professionals but it’s their parental instincts that need to take over," he said.

But most importantly, it comes down to individuals to make the right choices, and the way to do that is for them to be strong.

"If I did it, you can do it, that’s the bottom line. The kids come to know they can’t make excuses. Because when I was a loser, I was making excuses," Medina said. "Responsibility and accountability is a big deal."

DA: Parents hold the answers

There aren’t many anti-gang initiatives like Medina’s program in Waukesha County. District Attorney Brad Schimel said that is because the county’s gang problem isn’t severe - and that is a testament to the county’s parents.

"We don’t have the volume of activity to make a program like that worthwhile, so instead, we very much are able to take an individual approach with kids that are at-risk, very much treating each kid as an individual and trying to assess individual problems," Schimel said. "We have great parents here. Parents know where their kids and who they are with and are watching out for their kids’ needs. Sure there are exceptions, but all told, the strongest place we have to prevent gang activity is the parents."

Schimel said the professionals in county schools and social services are outstanding at watching children’s behaviors and who they associate with, as well.

At La Casa de Esperanza, a variety of programs and activities are in place to give youths direction, said Erica Giljohann, youth development coordinator.

"We’re essentially preventing those teens from being in gangs by giving them something positive to do," she said. "We are positively reinforcing the youth to do well in school and look at their future options and work with them and their parents at providing activities."

A summer program aimed at teens sees them get involved in investigative projects, pre-college camps, sports teams and field trips. It drew about 60 participants this year, Giljohann said.

"I think that they really enjoyed it. We had a much bigger program in the summer than in the past, so that’s good," she said.

At the Links Center, the successor organization to Waukesha’s Teen Center, director Jay Maddux, who runs the organization with his wife, Sue, said he doesn’t see a lot of evidence of gang activity among clients. There are some who say they are in gangs, but Maddux said he believes those affiliations are more of a makeshift gang, a group of youths that consider themselves a gang, rather than local chapters of national or regional organizations.

"If they were in a gang, they wouldn’t tell you if they were," he said. "The gang people aren’t gonna come to us and ask for help."

Maddux said he and his wife are missionaries of Elmbrook Church to youths in the county, and they will mix a religious message in with their teachings that all of us are linked together and each must strive to be a strong link to the next.

"Once we build relationships with kids, we try to help them understand there is a God and that will affect their lives," Maddux said.

Medina was recently diagnosed with cancer, and he said a day after his recent surgery he was on the phone helping clients. He said he views his health concerns the same way he tells his clients to address their challenges: by doing everything "100 percent the right way."

"I make sure they understand there’s always a way to be successful, whatever environment you are in," Medina said. "Anybody can take something negative and make it a positive. It’s their choice."

Brian Huber can be reached at bhuber@conleynet.com