The Calls to Action:
Invest in people.
Work better together.
Amplify youth leadership.
Transform systems.
The Goal:
All children and youth feel and are safe.
FIRST
STOP
A Plan to Reduce Youth Violence and Victimization
Let's be clear.
YOUNG PEOPLE ARE NOT TO BLAME FOR VIOLENCE.
YOUTH VIOLENCE IS THE RESULT OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC INEQUALITY AND INJUSTICE. WE MUST ADDRESS THESE SYSTEMIC PROBLEMS BY ADVANCING ANTI-RACISM WORK THROUGH COLLABORATION AND BOLD ACTION.
The disproportionate rates of violence experienced by young people within Greater East St. Louis will continue until society addresses the root causes of violence, including structural racism.
Not everything in life can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.
JAMES BALDWIN
Key Strategies
Building a Trauma-Informed Community
Co-creating informed, responsive spaces that seek to heal trauma.
Fostering Positive Youth Development
Stopping violence from happening before it ever occurs and helping
young people thrive.
Cultivating Youth Power
Co-creating platforms with youth so they can exercise self-determination and leadership.
Interrupting Violence
Intervening to at first sign of violence and when it occurs.
