Associate Director Torres talks empathy and the road ahead
Posted August 9, 2023
A young life forever altered
Many of you will have heard about the 8-year-old shot on 580 in July. He was left paralyzed from the waist down. YA! Associate Director John Torres spoke to ABC7 about empathy, the road ahead, and the healing power of community support. Watch the video here.
Many members of the staff at Youth ALIVE! are survivors of violence. Some have been shot. Others have lost cherished loved ones to gun violence in Oakland. Kesse Taylor-Jenkins is an integral member of Youth ALIVE!’s Violence Interruption team. She has worked an Interrupter herself, and now manages the day-to-day operations of 15 interrupters who work odd hours and disperse across the city every day and night. Kesse has suffered much loss. She lost her son. She lost two brothers. She recently wrote up her story for The Oaklandside; is heartbreaking and inspiring all at once. We encourage you to read it.
When the public, civic leaders or the media seek insight into how gun violence affects our city and our community, they often turn to Youth ALIVE! leaders, staff and clients. Last week, Bay City News spoke to a whole group of YA Staff, including Teens on Target (TNT) Coordinator MaryAnn Alvarado, former TNT youth leader and current Hometown Hero intern Edwin Galvan, Violence Interrupter Antoine towers, YA! Executive Director Joe Griffin and Healing Director Nicky MacCallum. Read the article here.
We are thrilled to release Hometown Heroes, our annual report for 2022-2023, celebrating the amazing work and powerful commitment of our staff and our clients. When a person suffers from a gunshot, when a person loses a cherished loved one to gun violence, there is often a period of despair and inertia. And when the time comes to begin healing, survivors find that healing can be hard work, that it calls for courage and commitment. What our clients also find is that it helps to have support from someone who understands, who perhaps has been where you are now. Someone who is patient, who knows where to find you the help you need, whatever it is, someone who shows up, who does what they said they would do. These are the people and the stories you will find in our new annual report. Also lots of great pictures, and recent results from our programs. Take a look!
Joe Griffin Celebrates 1 year as Executive Director
Posted July 9, 2023
Executive Director celebrates 1 year
ED Joe Griffin celebrates one year as executive director of Youth ALIVE!. He is leading the agency through a 3-5 year strategic plan and looks forward to sharing more about this bold vision.
Youth Alive, whose methods are now used around the country, first developed the hospital-based approach to gun violence more than 30 years ago in Oakland.
After an eye-opening news conference held last week at which Oakland’s acting police chief discussed a surge in violence and a rash of burglaries in the city, CBS Bay Area looked at what community groups like Youth ALIVE! are doing to stem the tide of violence and empower Oakland youth to create change. The report featured interviews with Teens on Target youth leader Sierra Taylor and YA! executive director Joseph Griffin. A student at Castlemont High in East Oakland, Sierra spoke about what TNT youth learn and the lessons they take to their peers. “We started discussing the root causes of violence, such as poverty, easy access to guns, drugs, and alcohol, and how all of these factors contribute to violence. I became passionate about addressing these issues,” Sierra explained. Dr. Griffin talked about the complex roots of violence in Oakland and the long journey to healing after violence. “Programs like Teens on Target, and our violence interruption program, ensure that individuals receive assistance from the moment of trauma to their healing journey,” Griffin said. See the CBS Bay Area video and report here.
YA! ED Dr Joseph Griffin with Alameda Health System Foundation President Preston Walton
Youth ALIVE! held our annual fundraiser Wednesday morning, a breakfast to kickoff Oakland’s 510 Day. The dining room at Sequoyah Country Club in East Oakland was packed with friends and supporters of our work and our community. They heard Teens on Target youth leader Xavier Tillery (pictured below) talk about his experiences in the program.
Join us at our Elm Street offices for the Teens on Target Experience. Sit in on a Teens on Target (TNT) violence prevention workshop just like the ones our TNT youth leaders present at Oakland middle schools. The original TNT prevention workshops were designed by East Oakland teens in the 1990s and are regularly updated by Oakland TNT youth leaders today. These middle school workshops take place over an entire week in a given classroom and include modules on Youth Preventing Gun Violence, Youth Preventing Gang/Turf Violence, Youth Preventing Family and Dating Violence, Enhancing Skills in Violence Prevention. This is a free one-hour long event. Join us and some of our amazing TNT youth leaders! Register here.
“When survivors speak, change happens,” hundreds of rally participants chanted as they marched State Capital at Sacramento to begin the Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice (CSSJ) California Survivors Speak Conference and Rally. The rally and conference previewed this week’s National Crime Victims’ Rights Week and its theme: Survivor Voices: Elevate. Engage. Effect Change.
