There's a man in the Hunting Park section of Philadelphia who's apparently not satisfied with changing his own life around, which he has. He wants to change a lot of other lives as well.
On a night where most people are pumping the heat inside their homes, Michael Tabon has chosen to sleep outside. His generator is broken, he has no light, no heat, and he says that's no problem. He says his message is more important than his comfort.
"We got one table, we got a chair, and we got a little heater," said Michael Tabon.
Sleeping outside is not an unfamiliar view for Michael Tabon. A convicted felon with a rap sheet five pages long, he has spent more than a decade of his young life behind bars. To hear him tell it, he belonged there.
"I was one of the first crack dealers, one of the first gun slingers when it became a style. I can't even imagine how many young people I put on the path to violence," said Tabon.
But now, on a different path himself, Tabon is in a cell unlike any he's ever been in before, in a parking lot just off Hunting Park.
"I made a decision to make my good as relentless as my evil used to be," Tabon said.
For the last 3 nights, and for the next 25, Tabon will stay inside a makeshift jail, just in front of the memorial the wall he established five years ago, listing the name of young Philadelphians who died as a result of violence.
He says, it's about showing kids his past, so they have a better future.
"I got the rule book for the kids that don't want to follow their mom's rules, who think them mom's rules is too hard. I got some prison rules to show you," said Tabon.
"I brought him some soup this afternoon, and later on I brought him some blankets," said Yvonne Benson.
Yvonne Benson's family lives across the street. She heard what Tabon was doing, and came out to support him.
So did Terry Starks, himself a victim of violence. Shot in the chest in 2002, he says this is a wakeup call.
"They can't even come outside. Our kids are basically in prison in Philadelphia," said Terry Starks.
All the more reason Tabon is in this prison, proof, on full display, that actions have consequences.
"For some people, I'm going to be their last chance," said Tabon.
As a consequence of his actions, Michael is not allowed to see his young daughter, but he wants her to know that he is doing good things with his life now, trying to keep young people out of prison. An effort he hopes will make her proud.
