In May of this year, Sheriff Joe Arpaio started the TOUGH Tents program and it has been a great success. Saturday at 9:30 AM J.D. Hill, a former NFL standout who played for the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions, and a former ASU Sun Devil, will join Sheriff Joe Arpaio at Tent City Jail for this weekend’s “TOUGH Tents” anti-drug, anti-crime program for young people. Twenty-five enrollees, ages 12-17, and 23 parents/guardians will be a captive audience this weekend.
“J.D. really cares about keeping young people on the right path, so he’s a great person for these kids and parents to hear from this weekend,” said Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Mr. Hill, 66, founded “Catch the Vision” a non-profit organization based in Chandler, Arizona, in his post-NFL years. Its mission is to help change the world by helping young people develop character, leadership skills and supporting people in recovery from addictions. “The youth of Arizona need us to help encourage them to make right choices to avoid the pitfalls of drug and alcohol abuse,” said Hill at jdhill.org, when speaking about the mission of Catch the Vision.
The program will continue in November and then run from January thru May of 2016. Those wishing to enroll are encouraged to visit www.mcso.org.
“TOUGH Tents,” an acronym for Teen Orientation Underscoring Good Habits, is a specialized program focusing on an anti-drug, anti-crime theme which aims to develop positive attitudes, habits and behaviors in students from 5th to 12th grades. For 20 hours the students along with at least one teacher and one parent, will be incarcerated in a separated section of Tent City.
They will be ordered by Sheriff’s detention officers to follow a rigorous jail routine and jail regulations unique to this Sheriff’s Office. “They will wear standard issued inmate clothing, work as inmate labor, eat jail food and sleep in TOUGH Tents. They will come face-to-face with real inmates telling their personal stories of how their lives were ruined by the poor choices they made getting involved in drugs and crime,” says Sheriff Arpaio.