Cop’s mentoring helps kids, self
Officer aids teens, gets through his hard times
When a personal setback sidelined NYPD Lt. Michael Almonte, a blast from the past put him back in the game.
It was one of Almonte’s former coaches, with an opportunity that helped him rebuild and put a difficult divorce he was going through behind him.
“I was staring at the ceiling and the phone rang,” Almonte recalled. “It was my old high school basketball coach, who suggested I become a mentor. … He said I would be perfect for it.”
And he is. Almonte, 38, joined the Student Sponsor Partners program, which pairs adults with 1,100 underprivileged teenagers who have partial scholarships to 26 Catholic high schools. “It reminded me of how a cop had mentored me when I was young. The program really helped me find a purpose,” he explained.
Almonte has shared that purpose with more than 150 of his brothers and sisters in blue.
“All these cops are volunteering their own time to help kids,” he said. “When you talk about legacy these are the things you want to leave behind. The most rewarding element of volunteering is seeing kids who may have been overlooked by the educational system succeed. When they start, they all have average or below average grades, but 92% go to college.”
His community contributions over the last nine years have not gone unnoticed.
“It is amazing to see how his call to action among his NYPD peers brought on more than 150 mentors and counting. It’s a testament to their passion to help kids in their communities and to the inspiration that Michael is,” said Student Sponsor Partners Executive Director Debra De Jesus-Vizzi, who honored Almonte at the group’s 20th annual gala this month.
Police Officer Alexis Martinez, 21, is proof of the program’s effectiveness.
“Three years ago, I saw him playing basketball and giving back to kids and it motivated me more to become a police officer,” said Martinez, who graduated from the NYPD academy April 18 and is assigned to the 34th Precinct in Washington Heights. “After that, I became a mentor because I wanted to pay it forward like he does,” he said.
Almonte learned from retired Officer Jason Angevine, who took the Brooklyn North cop under his wing as a teen.
“He didn’t like cops very much, but you could tell he was a good kid, “Angevine, 48, said. “So I started talking with him and invited him to play basketball with some of the guys I worked with and that changed his mind,” Angevine said. “I’m proud of what he’s doing.”
When not mentoring, Almonte is a coach in the Brooklyn North Basketball League, which has about 120 kids.
On a recent Sunday, he gave a sideline pep talk to his team,, which was down by 12 points. It got them back in the game.