Finding his calling

Work & Calling | A Dallas drug dealer becomes a force for good in his family and community | Ryan Messmore

Handout

SOUTH DALLAS, Texas—What Rodrick Yarbrough saw when he walked into his living room late one evening changed his life: His 3-year-old son was rolling up a sheet of paper like a marijuana joint. Little Rodrick Jr. wasn't imitating what he'd seen on TV or learned from the bigger kids at the playground. He was mimicking Dad.

Five years ago, Yarbrough was a well-connected drug dealer in Bonton, a low-income section of Dallas. At one point he controlled nearly 70 percent of the drug traffic in his neighborhood. He narrowly dodged arrest on several occasions.

But seeing his 3-year-old rolling up that sheet of paper was more than he could bear. He recalls thinking, "I need to change."

Changing direction, though, is easier said than done in a place like Bonton. It's still easy to sign up for benefits offered by more than 70 different means-tested welfare programs. Government policies generate strong incentives for welfare recipients to remain single and unemployed.