Sasha Long

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Sasha Long
Violence Prevention Educator, Teens on Target

slong@youthalive.org | (510) 594-2588 x316

Teens on Target (TNT) Violence Prevention Educator Sasha Long has deep roots in East Oakland. She graduated from Fremont High, where now she’s a mentor to students, where she teaches them to be safe, to prevent violence, and to be leaders in their community. Like all of our field staff, Sasha has a deep understanding of the barriers young people of color in East Oakland face, and an appreciation for the promise they hold within. Sasha lost her mom at a very young age, and like some of the students in our TNT program, she had to be responsible for herself at a young age. By sixteen, she was living on her own. She found work hawking hot dogs at the Coliseum, and then as a certified nurse’s aide caring for the elderly. It was hard work, but she forged close relationships with those she helped. Sasha’s ability to build relationships through honesty, humor and caring is crucial to her work at TNT. Building relationships is what we do at Youth ALIVE!. We don’t just enter the lives of people impacted by violence; we become part of their lives. We take the time to show the youth we work with that they can trust us and believe in the support we offer. Sasha filled many roles here at Youth ALIVE! —  office manager, program assistant, case manager – before settling into her position as a violence prevention educator and mentor. She says it can be frustrating to see her students on the fence in life, confronted with temptations and not sure which way to go. But the reward comes when she sees that they have absorbed the lessons of TNT, when they own the fact that they can be safe, that they can make their community safer. With only sporadic adult attention when she was a kid, Sasha still grew into a strong, upbeat, responsible adult who cares about her community. Now she is helping a new generation grow and thrive.