Bay Area Proud: South Bay business owner offers former prisoners a purpose

At first glance, San Jose’s Valley Services looks like a typical construction recycling facility. Trucks roll in throughout the day, unloading piles of concrete and asphalt. Massive machines grind the material down, preparing it for use as landfill cover.

But beneath the dust and machinery lies a deeper kind of transformation, one that’s harder to see, but far more profound.

Daniel Perez, a manager at Valley Services, knows this transformation firsthand.

“This company changed my life,” Perez said. “It gave me the second chance nobody else would.”

Perez has worked at Valley Services for nine years. Before that, he spent much of his life in and out of prison, beginning at just 12 years old.

Upon his final release, Perez went looking to find work, but with his criminal backgroud, not to mention gang tattoos on his hands and face, it was a long shot to get a job with any sort of future.

But Mike Salinas, the founder and owner of Valley Services, saw something in Perez. Salinas, who started the company more than 40 years ago with a single truck, has made it a mission to help formerly incarcerated individuals rebuild their lives.

“I want to see people get ahead,” Salinas said. “I want to see someone pull themselves out of a hole and get set up.”

Today, Valley Services employs around 20 people who have spent time in prison. Salinas says you wouldn’t know who they are just by looking at them because of the support and structure the company provides.

One of the first things Salinas did for Perez was pay for the removal of his gang tattoos. But he didn’t make the job easy.

“The first time you give me any hardship, you’re gone,” Salinas said. “But if you do really well, I promise you someday you’ll be able to buy a home, have credit, bank accounts, and you’ll change as a person.”

Perez took that challenge seriously. He rose through the ranks and recently signed the papers to purchase his first home.

“He gave me the opportunity nobody else would,” Perez said. “Little by little, he helped me take my tattoos off and then gave me the chance to help run his company.”

At Valley Services, transformation isn’t just about recycling concrete. It’s about rebuilding lives.

Source: NBC Bay Area