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SACRAMENTO-

Members of the south Sacramento Christian Center, along with locals they’ve met along the way, are helping to make city streets safer.

Through “Nightwalk,” they walk in groups through areas high in crime, reaching out to those in need and those who create the problems.

Darrell Jackson turned his life around after meeting the group.

“Gangs, got involved when I was 13. Been in prison when I was 18… couple of robbery charges,” Jackson said. “Once they came in, I kinda embraced it, you know, and I knew who my true friends were, and who wasn’t.

And that’s exactly who members of the South Sacramento Christian Center reach out to, with faith in their hearts and the hope of helping turn lives around.

The man who helped Darrell turn his life around was Pastor Esley Simmons’ oldest sone and namesake, someone he had lost himself for a period of time.

He was living the fast life, like a gangster, and dealing in other things,” Pastor Simmons said.

It was an undying faith that helps bring people back, including his own son.

“His lifestyle has definitely changed from what it was, and what he’s now doing,” he said. “And that’s the power of what we do.”

And together with his other son, Asst. Pastor Lesley Simmons, they continue their crusade of nighwalks – all with the hope of making Sacramento a safer place to be.