Twon Billings with Boyd and Lucinda

Twon Billings was born in 1970 to Linda Billings and Elmer Derrett. As far back as Twon could remember his family was infested with gangs, both Bloods and Crips. Twon was born in Cleveland and raised in Los Angeles in Inglewood and Avalon Garden projects in Watts. He became a member of the Grape Street Crips in 1978, during that time he was back and forth in Los Angeles and Cleveland. In 1983 Twon moved to Cleveland, where he began getting into trouble with the law; fighting, stealing cars and inevitably assembling forming a set of Grape Street Crips in the Cleveland area. By this time, he was a four year Tae Kwon Do champ and fought in numerous martial arts tournaments in California and in Cleveland. Ultimately, Twon became a seven year champ by 1988.

While imprisoned, Twon Billings was ordained as a reverend in 1996. By this time Twon's security status in Mansfield Correctional Institution dropped to medium and he was shipped to a Correctional Camp Called Richland. There he saw a lot of young guys coming in, from then he began to talk to the young men and ask them what it was they were in for.

As a result of his fearlessness and knowledge of the streets, Rev. Billings went in areas where no one dared to enter. There he conducted meditations, mentoring, and has always given a hand when necessary. At the end of 2005 the County and the Cleveland Foundation awarded Rev. Billings a $50,000 grant. The Neighborhood Leadership was his fiscal agent under the direction of the Executive Director Mr. Don Slocum. Rev. Billings’s contract called for mediation services, fugitive tracking, and training and educating community leaders on how gangs and criminals operate.