Utahn helps kids live dreams

SALT LAKE CITY — If not for the kindness of a stranger 30 years ago, Alfred Murillo knows that today he would most likely be in prison or dead.

He was 15, restless and roaming the streets with a gang in San Jose when a gruff 65-year-old named "Augie" decided one day to heed the calling of his preacher and go into one of the roughest neighborhoods in the city to help troubled youths.

The new street minister saw potential in Murillo, even though the teen spent most of his time shoplifting, doing drugs and getting into fights with rival gang members.

"He told me that regardless of my past, I still had something to give and my choices mattered," recalls Murillo, now 45. "You could tell that he genuinely cared. He came to the house and talked to my mom and me and gave me some direction. Augie helped me get the courage to make big changes in my life, and I could see that being in a gang was literally a dead end."

Today, Murillo, who lost several friends to gang violence and has a younger brother in prison for second-degree murder, is reaching out in the same way to kids in Salt Lake City's Glendale neighborhood – one of the roughest in the city.

Now an Evangelical pastor, he moved to Glendale with his wife, Anna, 10 years ago and started the Utah Dream Center with little more than a bright yellow truck, a sound system and the desire to make a difference.

"We had a fold-down platform on the truck that we used as a stage for the kids to put on programs," he recalls. "Then we'd hand out food and clothing to anybody who needed it. Our first week, we served Thanksgiving dinner to 200 people. "

Murillo still owns that truck, but today he makes dreams happen out of a recreation center and chapel in the heart of Glendale at 1624 S. 1000 West.

Hoping to share his vision for expanding the program and encourage others to get involved, he recently joined me for a Free Lunch chat during a rare break from coordinating a multitude of Dream Center projects.

Within the next month, there are after-school music and art programs to set up, food and furniture to distribute, backpacks and school supplies to hand out and wayward teens to counsel during community service release from the juvenile jail.

Fortunately, Murillo gets a little help.

"That's the beauty of it," he says. "If somebody has a dream that involves helping somebody else, we'll help make it happen. So we have people who help run a mobile medical clinic and people who want to teach after-school karate or help kids with their homework. Our dream is to see you live yours. That's always been our motto."

Murillo started the Utah Dream Center after witnessing the impact of a similar program in Los Angeles.