LOWELL, FL (352today.com) – Even our community’s most respected voices and leaders have had to face personal challenges.
The VERB Kind is changing lives and restoring belief in today’s at-risk youth through its mentoring program. The Ocala team is looking for additional mentors, and on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026, a special guest speaker left an indelible impression on the young men at the Silver Springs Youth Academy with a stirring testimonial.
The opportunity to interact and engage with incarcerated youth is usually met with enthusiasm, said Renick, a mentor from Ocala and part of The VERB Kind worship team.
“They don’t have any role models,” said Renick. “That’s why they’re in here. I volunteer because I know if I can get one kid on the right track of life, it’s the best scenario. You’re planting a seed, reminding them that they’ll be able to do something with their life.”
Another one of the mentors shared his testimony with those at the youth academy, a mentor named Dominic, who was also part of the worship team, who was compelled to check out The VERB Kind program as he too had been in trouble as a youth and had been in a place similar to the Silver Springs Youth Academy on several occasions, and had no one to visit him. He knows his presence has an impact on the youth at the facility. He also volunteers at the prison and the pregnancy center talking with the young men, who are becoming first time fathers, many of them having grown up without a father.
“I’m retired, so I have plenty of time on my hands,” said Dominic. “My friend Mike brought me into this. We go to the same church.”
There was also a live musical performance that featured songs of elevation such as “Made for More,” “O Come to the Altar” and “Build My Life.”
The incarcerated youth sat around the tables, talking and sharing fellowship prior to the performance. Mentors and staff sat among the youth.
Influential validation
It was Ocala Mayor Ben Marciano’s testimony that resonated most powerfully, sharing his own triumphs, and the near tragedies that almost ended his life.
Marciano has been asked why he speaks in prisons and says it’s because God has pulled him through some difficult situations. He has gone from running from the police to overseeing the police in his role as mayor of the City of Ocala. He moved to Dunnellon at age 3, with both of his parents facing the challenges that come with addiction. He lived in subsidized housing; his mother would push him in a shopping cart, as she didn’t have the money to purchase a car, having spent all of her money on drugs. And if that wasn’t enough, his mother would marry a drug dealer, whom Marciano wanted out of his life. The man was eventually sent to prison, but his presence was still there, as he would accompany his mother to prison to see the man who made his life difficult.
However, his life was about to change because of one man. He went to live with his grandfather, a former New York City police officer, who would transform Marciano’s life. He learned responsibility, and about how those who are the hardest on you, care about you the most.
Marciano told the audience, the three most important things he learned from his grandfather, were to always be on time, to do things right the first time, and to be a man of your word.
Choices and challenges
For much of his youth and time in high school, Marciano’s preoccupations were girls and basketball. He didn’t do any drugs. Ironically, however, alcohol and drugs would nearly ruin his life.
He went to Central Florida Community College, graduating with a degree in criminal justice, but during his academic career he found himself partying and doing drugs. He would move on to Florida State University, and during his senior year, majoring in criminal justice, his lifestyle choices found him passed out on the sidewalk, and an accompanying search of his person by police would lead to a felony arrest on drug charges.
A near-death experience from an overdose still wasn’t enough to stop him from addressing his problem. He ran from it, going to New York and then to Miami. Working in a Miami health club, he turned to stealing from the gym owner, who didn’t have him arrested, but fired him. He had burned every bridge there was because of his addiction issues, and found himself in a precarious situation, where he was going to be evicted from his home. He was 24, with no money, and only a bottle of vodka. Marciano had hit rock bottom. He was going to finish the bottle and then end his life by jumping off his apartment balcony to his death. He prayed, and just then, he received a phone call, from his mother.
Saving grace
He had lost everything in his life, and then a man who would help get him back on the righteous path, Pastor Nate Dickson, entered his life.
Marciano would begin attending Meadowbrook Church, but couldn’t look people in the eye, because he was ashamed of himself. Marciano asked Jesus to come into his heart and felt addiction leave that day. Pastor Dickson said that Marciano should be humble and put God first. Instead of being a personal trainer in a gym, he should apply for a job as a janitor and be honest about the fact that he had a felony on his record. He should focus on a program of recovery and that there were blessings in obedience. He began doing everything right, and found himself working for the YMCA for a decade, being passed over for promotions routinely.
There would also be a propitious event in Marciano’s life meeting the woman he would marry; however, he would struggle with revealing his past as a homeless drug addict to his future wife Danielle, but God had a plan for him.
Adversity and triumph
Although he was consistently passed over for promotions, he stayed at the YMCA and eventually would become the operation’s youngest executive director and vice president. Marciano worked to get his record expunged. In 2014, God told the future mayor to open his own gym. A fortuitous set of events had him run into a businessman, who would help him make that dream a reality. Zone Health and Fitness was born but the process was anything but seamless. Marciano was a father with three children, married and running his own business, but nine months after opening the gym’s doors, he ran out of money.
The stress was overwhelming. He thought the panic attacks were a heart attack. Marciano hit his knees, crying, praying to God. That month, Zone turned the corner and began making a profit.
As things progressed, Marciano found himself purchasing items that came along with success–a worldly view, a nice car, a boat. But he found himself sitting in his car in the parking lot and he was miserable. He called his mentor, who had been waiting for this phone call, and told Marciano to serve God and to serve others, and then abruptly hung up the phone. The message was simple: Be someone who makes a difference in someone’s life.
The secret to life is serving people. That message would be a harbinger for Marciano as God would ask him to fulfill his destiny of serving others, this time in the role of becoming the Mayor of Ocala. Marciano understood his role, as he had hired recovering addicts and people who had been in prison to work in his business.
Another blessing was about to occur. An out-of-town investor came in and wanted to take the gym national. Marciano took out a three-page advertisement in a local publication, sharing his story. What he found out was that people love transparency and vulnerability. People want to see you succeed. He ran unopposed for mayor.
The story Marciano shared was that anything is possible.
Marciano’s story registered statewide, with Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody wanting him to share his narrative with a wider audience, before more than 20 news outlets. The Law Enforcement Commissioner for the State of Florida was emotionally moved, understanding his story was going to save lives.
The message to the youth was that they were uniquely designed by God, possessing a skillset to serve others.
The mayor and worship team prayed with the youth. Their enthusiasm was palpable, as they shared fellowship, ending the evening with homemade cookies.