John H. Brooks Jr. was born and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey where he still resides to this day. John is the 3rd child to the youngest of nine siblings. John always maintained good grades and he was a pure all around athlete.
In John’s early years, he found himself getting involved into the street life, which caused John to make many poor decisions. Those decisions ultimately caused John his freedom on several occasions as a juvie, which followed by one state bid as an adult.
Once released, John vowed to take full advantage of his second chance at life. John decided to become a part of the solution within the same community that he was once a part of the problem in. John started coaching a youth basketball team for 3 years and then started coaching Pop Warner Youth Football in the same community as well. John is now looked at as a leader/role model within the community. John has counseled and mentored several hundred at-risk youth over the past years.
Today, John is happily married with children. John currently is titled as a Supervisor at a Residential Youth Program called Youth Consultation Services (YCS). John is also a full time college student at UCC, who majors in social work. He prides himself on leading by example with the hopes to help break the cycle of recidivism.