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While his friends were hanging out and getting into trouble, Justin Bowens grew up spending many hours alone shooting basketballs. “That’s when I did my dreaming,” Bowens said. “I would shoot and think to myself how I was going to be different.”
Bowens’ childhood was what some would call high risk.
Now 29, he does not remember ever meeting his father. Because his mother was battling drug addiction, Bowens and his siblings (two brothers and a sister) were separated and taken in by relatives.
He was raised in Frederick, Md., by his grandparents. Although they properly cared for Bowens, the neighborhood was dangerous with drugs and gangs prevalent.