A September 2021 article in The Guardian on Oakland’s 100th homicide of 2021 is a clear-headed assessment of the current surge in gun violence, and how it affects lower-income Black and Latino communities most.
With watch parties from Antioch to Oakland and friends and families tuning in all across the country, our 30th anniversary event, Saving Lives for 30 Years! was a big success and a lot of fun. With over 200 attendees, so far we have raised nearly $100,000. Thank you for your donations and your interest in our work! Donations continue to come in in response to the event and video. You can donate here. Or become a member of our Community Circle with a multi-year commitment to our life-saving programs.
Video: Where There is Violence, There Can Be Healing
Posted September 20, 2021
A Youth ALIVE! Documentary -
Image from the video: Where There is Violence, There Can Be Healing
Where There is Violence, There Can Be Healing is a 12-minute film about the work of our programs for violence prevention, intervention and healing in Oakland and beyond. The video features the voices of YA! staff, past and present, people from the community who bring love and support to our streets, hospitals, schools, who intervene in moments of crisis to mediate conflicts before the guns come out, who embrace the wounded and those who have lost a loved one to violence, who offer mentoring, counseling, and who step in wherever there is trauma that needs to be healed.
Today, Youth ALIVE! releases its 2020-2021 annual report, We Never Stopped: Preventing Violence & Saving Lives for 30 Years. It’s full of great pictures old and new. There are results from the work of our programs over the last year, and lots of history: of our founding and our evolution, as well as the evolution of the nation’s appreciation for the power of community violence intervention and healing.
The City of Oakland’s new $100K fund to cover towing fees for victims of violent crime is in the news. Advocacy to create the fund was inspired by the experiences of victims of violent crime and YA! clients. Read more about it in the media -
Youth ALIVE! in New York Times as part of a mom's busy week
Posted August 30, 2021
Moms Demand Action founder visits YA
The June 6, 2019 Edition of the New York Times included a “work diary” of a week in the life of Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action. Because of our partnership on ending gun violence, Shannon came to visit us at our Oakland offices. Excerpts below:
Youth ALIVE! is Oakland’s homegrown agency for violence prevention, intervention and healing. But we also have a national reputation and three decades of invaluable experience in our community. And we love to share our expertise with other agencies and cities. Recently, the White House called.
Political columnist George Skelton had written a strong call for California Democrats to spend more tax revenue on community violence prevention programs like Youth ALIVE!’s Caught in the Crossfire hospital-based violence intervention program, and our team of Violence Interrupters, who work the streets to mediate conflicts and save lives. YA!’s Executive Director Anne Marks has this to say in Skelton’s piece -
In his June 23 remarks introducing the White House Comprehensive Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gun Crime and Ensure Public Safety, President Biden showed a real understanding of the approach and effectiveness of Violence Interrupters like those on our team at Youth ALIVE!. YA! Violence Interrupters mediated 108 conflicts in 2020 and met 106 victims at their hospital bedsides to assess their ongoing safety. They continue to work the streets of Oakland to defuse tensions and de-escalate potentially violent conflicts. Here’s what President Biden had to to say about their life-saving work:
