News

YA!'s Violence Prevention Programs Featured

Posted April 4, 2016

San Francisco Magazine

With murders up, the police force depleted, and a mayor under threat of recall, 2011 was a very bad year for Oakland. To stem the tide of violence, former victims are stepping up to take care of their own. San Francisco Magazine details how Youth ALIVE! is making a difference in Oakland with their Teens on Target, Caught in the Crossfire, and Khadafy Washington Project programs.

Working to Reduce Violence in the Bay Area

Posted January 28, 2016

KALW

Your Call discussed programs working to make a difference in the Bay Area to halt gun violence and provide victims of violence with resources to keep them from the revolving cycle of gang violence. Demetria Huntsman, Program Director of Youth ALIVE’s Teens on Target program was a guest on the show.

The Hidden Trauma of Living in Fear - YA on MSNBC

Posted December 15, 2015

MSNBC

Melissa Harris-Perry interviewed Kyndra Simmons, Youth ALIVE’s Caught in the Crossfire Program Manager about PTSD being diagnosed in Oakland’s children. Aired December 15, 2015.

Ebony Magazine: Anti-Gang Programs Approach Violence As a Disease. YA's Executive Director Featured.

Posted November 28, 2015

EBONY MAGAZINE

During one of the presentations at this year’s American Public Health Association conference, researchers and activists gathered to discuss violence as a contagion. They argued that violence requires the same public health approaches that are used to fight diseases. Youth ALIVE! agrees. Their approach

Essence Magazine: Youth ALIVE! Intervention Specialists Featured

Posted March 21, 2014

ESSENCE MAGAZINE

After a young Oakland mother was shot in front of her kids, one of her first visitors was Youth ALIVE! intervention specialist Rafael Vasquez. Soon after, Youth Alive!’s Clinical Director and Counselor, Nicky MacCallum, diagnosed her with PTSD. This young mother’s story and an investigation into the epidemic of traumatic stress in America’s violent inner cities are featured in “Black America’s Invisible Crisis” in the October 2014 issue of Essence magazine.

Success Story: From Victim to Community Leader

Posted March 21, 2014

Teens Finding Success as Community Leaders

Posted March 21, 2014

Teens on Target, Youth Alive!’s peer education program, is training teens to be community leaders and educators and is successfully helping young people find positive alternatives to violence.

TNT Results

• Almost 100% of TNT Peer Educators graduate from high schools that have graduation rates of only 40%.
• 80-90% tell us they resolved a conflict that once would have ended in a fight.
• Twice as many TNT Peer Educators said they were “very likely to look for alternatives to violent situations” after participating in the program.
• Two-thirds fewer students believe it is ever okay to hit a girlfriend or boyfriend.
• 90% fewer students believed having a gun made them safer.

Read more about the life-changing work we’re doing with Teens on Target.

Doctors Recommend PTSD Screening for Civlians

Posted March 5, 2014

NBC NEWS

Youth ALIVE!’s Caught in the Crossfire client Jean Eason, Intervention Specialist Ray Estrada and Executive Director, Anne Marks were featured on NBC News. The story aired March 4, 2014.

Oakland Effect: the profound physical effect of toxic stress

Posted April 14, 2012

Oakland Tribune

By Scott Johnson Oakland Tribune

This is an excerpt from reporter Scott Johnson’s blog, which focuses on the impact of violence and trauma on the community. Go to www.oaklandeffect.com for updates on his reporting.

Shootings Soar in Oakland; Children Often the Victims

Posted January 15, 2012

NEW YORK TIMES

By SHOSHANA WALTER JAN. 7, 2012

Five-year-old Gabriel Martinez Jr. died Dec. 30, shot as he played under a streetlight near his father’s taco truck on an East Oakland street corner. He was the third young child killed in Oakland since August, the 110th homicide of 2011, and the 199th juvenile shooting victim of more than 2,000 people who were victims of gun violence in an especially bloody year in an increasingly violent city.