Former Gang Members Getting Help With Cost of Tattoo Removal

Former Gang Members Getting Help With Cost of Tattoo Removal
May 6, 2011
By David Mance
KVEWTV.com

Some former gang members trying to turn their lives around are finding it hard to escape the gang lifestyle because of their visible tattoos. Now, a new program aims to help them pay the price of the high cost of tattoo removal.

"They made me feel good, it made me feel that I had power, if I wanted something I could get it," says one former Sunnyside gang member about the tattoos on his hand and fingers. We've distorted the voice and are not showing you his face to protect his identity. We've also blurred out his tattoos, tattoos he once wore proudly, and committed crimes to earn.

"Robbing, stealing, you know, buying stuff you shouldn't have been buying," he says.

But now he's left the gang lifestyle behind in hopes for a better future, and he wants to get rid of his tattoos, so he'll have more job opportunities.

"Once they see this, you know, how can they know they can trust you?" he says.

He's turned to a group called Sunnyside's Promise, who's helping him realize the importance of tattoo removal.

"Some of them are insignias that are gang affiliated, even if they're not, they're still parts of their life that has an identifying aspect to it," says Sunnyside's Promise executive director Mark Baysinger.

The tattoos are removed at this clinic in Yakima. Depending on the tattoo, it can take six to eight laser treatments to remove at $135 a pop, a cost out of reach for many Sunnyside families.

"When you have kids that are coming from families that do not have the money, it's a very difficult task for them to be able to make that step," says Baysinger.

So far ten former gang members have had the slate wiped clean so to speak. This teenager knows he'll be better off without the tattoos.

"I'll be able to go farther than I already am," he says.

Sunnyside's Promise is using grant money to help about 90 former gang members transition out of the gang lifestyle through tattoo removal and other services.