In the same sense that health intervention focused on the daily occupations of the well‐elderly can promote successful ageing, programs aimed at the daily occupations of at‐risk youth may act as a potential deterrent to street gang activity. In the city of Los Angeles, thousands of young people come under the influence of gang culture and in turn, lead lifestyles destructive to themselves and society. This paper begins with a few statistics which paint a grim picture of the existence of street gang members and the impact of street gang involvement. Following, there is a story of one youth's path from immigration to the United States to his involvement with a street gang which eventually led to his participation in the New Occupations for Life Program. This pilot program, developed by the University of Southern California Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, targeted the harmful occupations of 100 Hispanic and African‐American teenagers at‐risk for gang involvement. The program provided a safe context for disestablishing gang allegiances, building community, and exploring socially acceptable, productive occupations. In this liminal space, these at‐risk youth were given the opportunity to experience other “modes of being” within the context of meaningful and enjoyable occupations. Clark and her colleagues offer their interpretation of this transformative process and share their optimism about the power of occupation to change the lives of at‐risk youth.