DENVER — Marcus Weaver is using his own experiences and a crunchy, sour snack to help others make their lives a little better.
Weaver is the executive director of Lower the Barrier and founder of People's Pickles, which he describes as a community-driven job training program that helps marginalized individuals, like people coming out of homelessness, prison or rehab.
"I wanted to make a product that we could easily sell, but also give people job training," he said.
People's Pickles has helped more than 150 people since Weaver started the program in 2019.
One of those people is Jamaar Rice.
"I was homeless for two and a half years, sleeping in a broke down car," Rice said.
Raymond Johnson also knows the power of the pickle.
"I was incarcerated as a juvenile for first-degree murder," Johnson said. "Ended up doing 26 years."
Through working with volunteers, selling pickles at farmer's markets, and learning on-the-job skills, Rice and Johnson get the knowledge and connections they need.
Weaver knows these guys don't have a lot of resources, because he's been in their position.
"In 2008, I had gotten in trouble, and through the course of getting in trouble I started to help guys with their resume and reentry plans and realized there wasn't a lot of stuff out there," he said.
After a year in jail, Weaver found his taste for social outreach.
"I was having success. I was off parole. Everything was good," he said. "And then I went to a movie theater and got shot in my arm."
On July 20, 2012, Weaver said, he saw a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" with a woman named Rebecca Wingo.
Rebecca and eleven others were killed when a gunman opened fire in the theater. Weaver made it out with a shot through his arm.
"From there, it just really springboarded me into so many different things," he said. "Forgiveness. Helping others. Being a part of my community."
Now he's putting those experiences to work, making change for Rice, Johnson and many others.
"Everybody is not gonna be golden when they come out," Weaver said. "They need lots of support. That's how I was, and I feel like if I can give them that support and give them the other resources in the community, stay with them and be in contact with them, and get them through that first 30 days, get them employed, get them into housing, it just makes a difference."
"Help me get housing, and just to help me find a way to get a job and live a better way," Rice said.
"I wanted to give back and I wanted to try to help heal the wounds from the people I that caused harm to, from the community to my victim's family to my family," Johnson said.
Cutting, jarring and labeling is tough, but the passion here comes from much more than cucumbers and vinegar.
"It's about the people, not the pickles," Weaver said.
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