In late June at Bocanova Restaurant in Oakland, 175 of our closest friends joined us to celebrate Youth ALIVE!’s 25 years of violence prevention, intervention and healing. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf called Youth ALIVE! “Oakland’s homegrown leader in the struggle to end violence.” She addressed the gathering and spoke about the effect of our work. “Youth ALIVE! saves lives," she said.
Miracle and Mom Sandra Campbell at YA! celebration
TNT Youth Leader, and new Castlemont High School graduate, Miracle Robinson gave a great speech at Youth ALIVE!’s 25th anniversary dinner celebration at Bocanova in June. She even brought her mom, Sandra Campbell, up to be by her side while she told us about growing up in East Oakland, about how her mom taught her right from wrong, and how much TNT and Youth ALIVE! have meant to her. We will miss Miracle!
What: Youth ALIVE! is 25 Celebration Dinner When: Thursday, June 22, 2017, 5:30 to 9:00 Where: Bocanova Restaurant, 55 Webster Street, Jack London Square, Oakland
The young leaders in our Teens on Target program had wanted to do a toy drive for a long time. They thought about it at Christmas time, but figured there were plenty of toy drives going on then. So, they waited until the spring to do theirs.
Congress heard an important message in April about violence as a public health issue. An all-star panel featuring Youth ALIVE! Executive Director Anne Marks brought that message to Washington in a congressional briefing co-hosted by Congressman Mike Quigley of Illinois.
Big thanks for our friends at Oaklandish for naming Youth ALIVE! their Nonprofit of the Month for March 2017. We are recipients also of an Oaklandish Innovators Award for 2017. And on Saturday, March 18th, at their Dimond store, at 3419 Fruitvale Ave, Youth ALIVE! gets 10% of all proceeds for the day. Come out that day, buy some cool stuff, and meet some of our Teens on Target youth leaders and violence prevention educators.
Violence follows poverty and strife and hardship, whether in Deep East Oakland or south central South Dakota. The Rosebud Reservation, home to the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, spans 1,442 rugged, bleakly beautiful square miles on the Dakota/Nebraska border. The closest urban areas are 200 miles away. Unemployment stands at 83%. A recent study found that 100% of Rosebud youth have been exposed to some type of violence, either as witnesses or as victims. The crime rate is high, the police force small and thinly spread. Domestic and elder abuse are serious problems. In 2014, there were 638 reports of child abuse and neglect. Founded in 1977, the White Buffalo Calf Woman Society serves victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking. In 1980, they opened the first women’s shelter on an American reservation. For decades, they have been educators and advocates for the women of the whole sprawling community. Now they are preparing to help another segment of their community: male survivors of violence, and in snow, bitter cold January, Youth ALIVE!’s Adrian Sanchez and Samuel Martinez traveled to the reservation to help.
Youth ALIVE! ED Quoted in New York Times Article on ACA
From the New York Times article
Among the many thousands of Americans who finally have health insurance thanks to the ACA, which the current administration and Republican Congress wish to eliminate, were many young shooting victims, often young African-American men, who end up receiving sporadic care and whose wounds, mental and physical, heal slowly. Youth ALIVE! ED Anne Marks was one of the experts quoted in a recent analysis in the New York Times -
YA! Violence Interrupter Glen Upshaw Humanitarian Award Recipient
Posted January 10, 2017
Oakland Citizen Humanitarian Award
Congresswoman Lee presents the award to Youth ALIVE!’s Glen Upshaw
Youth ALIVE’s Glen Upshaw was this year’s recipient of the Oakland Citizen Humanitarian Award. Living Jazz, an Oakland-based music education non-profit, created this award to recognized Oaklanders who “give of themselves beyond the call of duty and to inspire others to work for the betterment of the community.” Each year, they choose a recipient in consultation with the Oakland Department of Human Services. Glen leads our Violence Interruption team. The Violence Interrupters focus on mediating conflicts between individuals, group and gangs throughout Oakland, the kind that arise in the aftermath of violence. They help the wounded assess their safety and work to break the cycle of violence in a lasting way.
