Media, Leaders turn to Youth ALIVE! –
The last two weeks have been particularly trying for Oakland. All of Youth ALIVE!’s resources have been deployed in the community to support students, families, teachers, and schools, to mitigate further violence, and bring the community together to heal.
Amid the current painful eruption of gun violence here in our town, at Youth ALIVE! we find ourselves suddenly the subject of much media attention. It has been an opportunity to get the message out that Youth ALIVE! is there, in our schools and hospitals and on our streets, to comfort victims and survivors, to support families of those who have been killed, and to work to prevent more shooting and bloodshed by mediating conflicts that could escalate to violence.
Our program staff is made up of Oaklanders seeking to bring peace to our streets, among whom are former victims of gun violence, mothers who have lost children to gun violence, and the formerly incarcerated.
This newsletter features links to the numerous stories and interviews featuring Youth ALIVE! Violence Interrupters, Mental Health Counselors, Crisis Responders, Intervention Specialists and Violence Prevention Educators. Together, they paint a picture of passion, of a community’s great desire for peace and healing, and of the hard work we all must do with and for each other to end this violence.
We promise that we will not stop until we have achieved a peaceful Oakland.
YA! in the News
Angelina Gutierrez on CBS Bay Area
Mental Health Counselor Angelina Gutierrez on CBS Bay Area: Coping with the Surge in Violence on Oakland’s Streets
Carlos Jackson on ABC 7
Lead Pathways Intervention Specialist Carlos Jackson on ABC News 7: Violence Interrupters Working to Defuse Incidents, Mediate Students
Glen Upshaw no KRON 4
Violence Interruption Team Manager Glen Upshaw on KRON: Stop Mass Shootings Before They Happen
Teens on Target (TNT) Violence Prevention Educators on KALW Your Call: Community Advocates Discuss Gun Violence and School Shootings
Caught in the Crossfire (CiC) Lead Intervention Specialist Guadalupe Serrano-Lopez and Intervention Director Paris Davis in NewsNation: Hospital-based Violence Intervention Can Break Cycle of Harm
