News

Former TNT Youth Leader Smooth Wickliff in The Guardian

Posted May 2, 2018

Smooth on Giving up the Gun

On the eve of last month’s March for our Lives, the Guardian sought commentary from current and former Teens on Target youth leaders, including former TNTer Smooth Wickliff. With insight and clarity, Smooth wrote about growing up surrounded by violence in Oakland, about the lure of the gun, and about what TNT taught him about breaking the cycle of violence. Read his Guardian piece, which the publication called “I used to be a gun-toting teenager. If I stepped away from guns, we all can.”

Dymond Garrett is Glad You're Listening

Posted April 3, 2018

TNT Youth Leader on #NeverAgain

TNT youth leader Dymond Garrett has written a searing but hopeful piece for Youth Radio about the #NeverAgain movement, growing up around violence, and the frustration felt by those who have been talking about – and living with – gun violence for years.

Celebrate with us on June 21st!

Posted March 25, 2018

We’re sold out! See you at our annual celebration dinner and auction.

After Parkland, TNT Youth Leaders Speak

Posted March 6, 2018

Young Oakland Voices Heard

The outrageous, unnecessary destruction of lives in Parkland, Florida, has rightly inspired great sympathy for the grieving. For many (though somehow not all), it has reinforced their will to make our country a safer, more peaceful place. It has also opened the nation’s ears to the energizing voices and fresh ideas of young peo

TNT Behind San Quentin's Walls

Posted March 5, 2018

Inmates Preach the Value of Freedom

On a sun-splashed, blue-sky, spring-like winter day in February, some of our Teens on Target youth leaders went behind the walls at San Quentin. They spent an eye-opening day with a group of inmates called SQUIRES, men whose devastating crimes had earned them a life behind bars, and whose collective message to our young men was clear: it takes only a few seconds to end up here, just one bad decision that can ruin many lives, including your own. So be wise, stop and think, find someone you can talk to about life. Stay free.

Youth ALIVE! featured on NPR's Snap Judgement

Posted March 5, 2018

On a year of Oakland violence

Members of the Snap Judgement radio and podcast crew cover a year of homicides in Oakland in their episode called Counted: an Oakland Story. For that they interviewed Youth ALIVE!’s Glen Upshaw and Tammy Cloud, as well as staff from some of our partners working to bring peace and healing to Oakland. Glen is our lead violence interrupter, working with his team to mediate conflicts between groups, gangs and individuals in Oakland before the guns come out. These are men trying to change young lives and make people safer. Tammy is the coordinator of our Khadafy Washington Project, named for the murdered son of its founder, which steps into the immediate aftermath of homicides in Oakland to support traumatized, devastated families at their time of greatest need. Hear full Snap Judgement interviews with Tammy and Glen here.

The Lesson of Charlie Jones

Posted February 28, 2018

A Goal & a Little Help

There’s a lesson in Charlie Jones’s success. At least his success so far; Charlie’s only 15, a client in our Pathways program.

Join our team!

Posted February 10, 2018

You can help save lives! We are looking for passionate, relentless people motivated to prevent violence and develop youth leaders. We have openings for permanent positions as well as internships.

YA! Releases Trauma Tool & Action Briefs

Posted January 9, 2018

To Promote “Healing in Color”

On January 10th, 2018, with a webinar and three action briefs, Youth ALIVE!, a nationally recognized violence prevention and youth leadership agency, released its Screening and Tool for the Awareness and Relief of Trauma (START), an intervention designed to help young people identify trauma symptoms and provide them with tools they can use to mitigate those symptoms. The tool was developed in tandem with young men of color, including gunshot survivors, who provided insight on how they experience trauma and its aftermath, the language they use to describe it, and how various interventions helped them heal.

Street Smart AND School Smart

Posted December 20, 2017

I’m Brandon Lee Vega

I was born in East L.A. My family moved to Oakland when I was 13 because my mom was looking for a better paying job.