Struggle of Love is working with local school districts, police and other nonprofits for the preventative strategy, which would be a first this year.
DENVER, Colorado — Advocates against youth violence are trying a proactive approach to help curb the violence that they say often increases at the end of the school year and over the summer.
Nonprofit Struggle of Love said they are placing counselors inside some schools for the remainder of the year to help form relationships with at-risk youth and help point them toward resources and summer activities.
“Just us being on campus, being visible, and letting these kids that may be involved in these things know that look, we are here,” said Jason McBride, secondary violence prevention manager for the Struggle of Love Foundation. “We don’t want this to happen here. We don’t want this to happen period, with the summer coming up, there is an escalation of violence.”
McBride said there is often a pattern this time of year.
“The last five, six, seven years, it’s been really violent in the city,” McBride said. “It’s really been tough on these young people.
“We want to do things differently, and we have kind of waited for things to happen in the past,” he continued. “This year, we want to do something different. We want to put something together, get our partners involved.”
McBride and his team are having conversations with Denver Public Schools, Aurora Public Schools along with their corresponding police departments. McBride said he hopes he and his team of staff and volunteers will be able to be present at schools that have had past experiences of violence or threats.
Kendrick Shaw is a volunteer with the organization.
“Two years ago, I was just walking on the way to school, and there was a car driving by,” The 19-year-old said. “I ended up getting shot sadly. I went home and everything, but by the grace of God, I made it and everything.”
Shaw said he believes being on campuses would have a positive impact.
“It’s really about just still being there, being involved, knowing about what is going on in the community,” he said. “So we can be there to stop things, instead of being more of a response to things that happen, being a tool that prevents things from happening too.”
Struggle of Love said they have had already had conversations to work with other non-profits to put the plan in place.
McBride said they are working to identify which schools to place volunteers and want to get started as soon as possible.
They are also working to implement designated safe zones, which were previously up and running during the pandemic. They offer a safe place with entertainment and activities for youth when school is not in session.
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