Auto Repair Shop Named for Youth Rehabilitation Services Staffer

For three decades, Carl Matthews has worked for the Washington, D.C., government, with the vast majority of those years at the district’s Youth Rehabilitation Center in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. He was honored on Tuesday for his work and his dedication for the residents and the impact he is making on their lives.

The facility, called New Beginnings, is on the same campus as the old Oak Hill Youth Detention Center, which was closed in 2009 after incidents of abuse and poor living conditions surfaced.

Matthews remembers those days and how it shaped his actions toward helping young people who got into trouble.

“Oak Hill was basically survival,” Matthews said. “I believe I was sent here for a reason, other than just a district government job. I believe I was sent here for a purpose."

While Matthews has been at the facility for decades, through the good and bad, he really doesn’t consider it work.

“It is a calling for me, because I’ve lived this life,” he said. “So when you’ve lived this life, they feel that they know that. They know I’ve been there. They know I’ve felt their pain.”

Matthews isn’t a counselor or a guard. He cuts the grass and fixes things. Years ago, he started teaching the young people automotive skills they could use in the real world.

“I’ve seen how this can turn somebody’s life around,” Matthews said. “It gives them some hope, some opportunity.

The youth Matthews has helped said he gives them something much more than job skills.

“When I need somebody to talk to, he’d be right there,” said Tatianna Johnson, a New Beginnings resident. “I’d talk to him. He gives me knowledge and pulls me up when I’m down.”

“He can relate to what we been through, because he been through it, too,” said Travis Foster, another New Beginnings resident. “He’s a great guy. He’s somebody you can look up to.”

District officials and those who Matthews has mentored over the years gathered for the ribbon cutting and dedication of the New Beginnings auto repair garage, called Carl’s Cars. While it is unusual to work in a government building bearing his name, Matthews said he has no plans to retire, because there are still a lot of young people who need his help.

“I know that distant look in their eye when they just need someone to talk to,” Matthews said. “I’ve been there. It gives me a connection. You can’t put in a job description. I was meant to be here.”