Ladell Peaches, along with his six brothers and sisters, were removed from his mother's home when he was 4.

Separated from his family, he was placed in six different foster homes by the time he was 8.

At age 15, Peaches' final foster family had him shoot a man. The foster family also beat Peaches until he was comatose. Peaches retaliated by shooting his foster brother's family members, he said, and they responded by shooting him five times as he walked to a gas station.

Five years later, Peaches is a changed man.

He is one of 22 members participating with Year Up Chicago technical and professional skills training program, which opened Sept. 7 at 203 N. La Salle.
Peaches, 20, said the demanding program should be no problem.
On Thursday, a gathering of sponsors and supporters saluted the start of the program in Chicago that Peaches hopes will set him toward a career in IT.
"I can't go back to my old ways; so I have to succeed," said Peaches, a high school graduate who regularly attends church.
Participants -- low-income young adults from urban settings -- learn social and business etiquette and get six months of college-credited education; then each has a sixth-month internship at a major corporation; with stipend -- $150 to $225 a week -- throughout the program. Tardiness, excessive jewelry, having a cell phone on or letting profanity fly can lead to docked pay. A failed drug test gets a participant booted.
"It's a high support, high expectation model," Executive Director Alan Anderson said.
Students get advisers through the program, and mentors on the job.
Chicago is the newest site for the Boston-based program (YearUp.org) that has seen alumni work at SunTrust, Lehman Bros. and Citigroup.
"Year Up is a movement. This is about economic and social justice," said Gerald Chertavian, who founded Year Up in Boston in 2000. "This is what our young people deserve."