Rev. Damon Horton

"I haven't always been a minister, you know.  At one point, I was a gang member and a drug dealer.  I ended up getting arrested in 2003 and again in 2004 when I was sentenced to 12 years for drug trafficking." 

"It was a little after that that I realized that the lord was calling on me to preach.  I really changed my life around.  I did a lot of preaching in the penitentiary and it really felt like the right thing to be doing." 

"A little after I got out in 2006, I got married, started a family, and accepted the call to ministry.  I was ordained and rededicated my life to serving other people."   

"I've now been accepted into seminary school, pursuing a master's degree." 

Damon Horton is also active in a program called Steppin to a New Beat, started by another KFTC leader and former felon named Tayna Fogle.   

"I'm a mentor, heading up a youth program with them - to help young people who are on the wrong path to get them on the right path."  

But even after doing so much to turn his life around and to help others do the same, Rev. Horton is struggling.    

"Even though the lord has forgiven me, it's still hard for society to accept me.  It's hard to find a job.  

“I can pay taxes again, but I can't vote or have a real voice in the government.”  

“To be able to have a voice, vote, and make a difference - that's a big deal to me.  I read what's going on in my community, but I don't have a say in it.  I don't understand that. It's not like that in other states.  Ours is one of just a few.  It doesn't seem right.”    

“People make mistakes.  A lot of folks are just one or two mistakes from being in the same place I am.”  

“If faith tells me anything, it's that people deserve a second chance.”