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News from the Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative | November 21, 2014
carlos
Terrell Rosetti with Carlos Garza
 
Carlos Garza, In Memorium
Memorial Service Saturday, November 22

The SYVPI community lost a family member earlier this month. Carlos Garza, a street outreach worker in the early days of the Initiative, succumbed to cancer on November 8 at age 57.

 

Carlos personified, on multiple levels, what the Initiative is all about. A member of an East Los Angeles gang when he first arrived in Seattle in 1989, he was out on parole and looking for a new start. Although he ultimately achieved that goal, it took years to achieve as cocaine and heroin addictions eventually landed him in Washington's prisons. There, his status as a gang member provided opportunities to extort other prisoners--a behavior that eventually earned him confinement in lockdown for 23 hours a day for over a year.The good news was that the isolation gave him time to think, and seeing young people coming into prison with life sentences motivated him to make a difference. 

 

After his release from prison, the impacts of Carlos' moral convictions began to outweigh those of his legal ones. As an outreach worker, he mentored Latino youth who were involved in gangs or at risk of becoming either perpetrators or victims of violence. In the process, he became a sought after speaker who could speak from the heart as he offered up examples from his own life, not only as to the regrets for the time and opportunities lost, but for that which could be gained from working for the betterment of one's self and others.

 

Current SYVPI street youth engagement program coordinator at SYVPI's Southwest Network, Terrell Rosetti is just one of those people whose lives he touched. "Carlos has been a father, mentor, friend, homie, a spiritual leader, not only to myself but to many other adults and youth in our community," said Terrell. "Carlos has been working in the community and sharing his inspiring story to touch many lives of our young people that are on the wrong path."

 

A memorial for Carlos is being held on Saturday, November 22 to celebrate his life and to provide a platform for people to share stories of how Carlos impacted their own lives. It will be at the High Point Church at 620 North Central Avenue in Kent (Mill Creek Middle School) from 3 to 7pm.

  

A fund has also been established for a scholarship to be named in his honor. Contributions can be made at https://fundly.com/support-carlos-buzzard-garza# or by contacting Terrell Rosetti at [email protected].

 

Read more about Carlos at: http://www.seattleweekly.com/2011-10-12/news/king-county-s-growing-latino-gangs-problem/

  


  

2014 Retreat
2014 SYVPI Annual Retreat
manager

Join the Team! SYVPI Hiring Organizational Development
and Service Quality Manager

 

Applications due by 4pm on Tuesday, December 9  

 

SYVPI utilizes a comprehensive set of strategies to support Seattle youth at risk of perpetuating violence or becoming a victim of violence. At the core of its approach is its neighborhood-based focus. Existing community-based organizations--which SYVPI has re-envisioned as Neighborhood Networks--lead the Initiative and serve as the hubs for connecting youth with needed support from an entire team of youth service providers. 

 

In order to continue to grow the SYVPI team's capacity to provide coordinated, effective services for youth, SYVPI is seeking qualified candidates for the Manager position. This person will report directly to the SYVPI Director, and will identify, perform, and coordinate training and professional development for SYVPI, including use of SYVPI's new Risk Assessment tool and Motivational Interviewing.

 

Required qualifications include a Bachelor's degree (Master's degree preferred), three years' experience using motivational interviewing techniques and conducting motivational interviewing trainings and clinical assessments, and the ability to communicate and work effectively with diverse populations. A Certificate in Motivational Interviewing is preferred.

 

More detailed information about this position is available on the SYVPI website at http://safeyouthseattle.org/resources-2/job-announcement/ or at http://www.seattle.gov/jobs, Job #2014-01247.   

 



Photo by Seattle PI
 
gunsSeattle-King County Gun Violence Prevention Summit:
Guns a Public Health Hazard


Since February 2013, 255 firearm deaths have occurred in King County: 180 by suicide, 78 by homicide, and two by unintended means. Statistics like these were one of the factors that helped prompt Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and King County Executive Dow Constantine to convene
the King County and City of Seattle and Gun Violence Prevention Leadership Summit held on October 29, 2014.

 

Select community members, including SYVPI Director Mariko Lockhart, were invited to the Summit to share their expertise to examine King County gun violence data and to identify issues, evidence-based best practices, and opportunities to increase coordination of prevention efforts.

 

Additional data shared by the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center included:  

 

Individuals hospitalized for a firearm injury, as compared to people admitted for a noninjury reason, were, within the next five years:

  • 30 times more likely to be re-hospitalized for another firearm injury
  • 11 times more likely to die from a firearm injury
  • 2 times more likely to be arrested for a firearm or violent crime

 Individuals hospitalized with an injury who had a prior arrest for a firearm or violent crime were, compared to people without such a history:

  • 13 times more likely to be arrested over the next 5 years
  • 43 times more likely to be murdered over the next 5 years

Workgroups formed at the Summit generated ideas for follow up. King County staff is working on next steps.

 


 

 

Rainier
October Community Task Force Workshop at Southlake School
 
Rainier Beach Project Moves into Implementation Phase

 

In 2012, Seattle was one of the first 15 cities to receive the Bureau of Justice Assistance Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation (BCJI) grant to support taking a data- and research-driven approach to build and enhance communities' capacities to create comprehensive strategies for priority crime problems. The resulting SYVPI-sponsored project is known as Rainier Beach: A Beautiful Safe Place for Youth. Last month, Project Coordinator Barb Biondo of the Seattle Neighborhood Group, presented an update to BCJI site partners from nine western US cities and towns at a conference in Los Angeles, California. The update highlighted the details of our specific approach to community involvement and the transition from planning to implementing our youth crime reduction strategies.

 

In addition to keeping national partners informed, Barb continually updates information about the project's activities and makes it available to the public here in Seattle on the website:  Rainier Beach: A Beautiful Safe Place for Youth. The extensive amount of information available includes notes from Community Task Force workshops, links to research articles, reports of crime data for specific areas within the Rainier Beach neighborhood, and much more.  

 

In late August and early September, the project conducted three focus groups with Rainier Beach youth and asked them what they felt could be done about problems in the Rainier Beach area. The following summarizes their answers:  

  • Youth need opportunities and positive--not gang-involved--role models. This is beyond what parents alone can achieve
  • The community needs to come together, and also treat youth better-don't assume that all young people are bad or all youth crime is committed by local kids
  • Youth-and the community as a whole-need a healthier attitude and help with emotions
  • Youth need more safe places to go-either for help when they need it, or just to stay out of trouble. The community center is a start
  • The neighborhood needs to be improved so it looks safe and cared-for
  • Youth have a complex relationship with the police, but ultimately welcome their help-youth want to engage with the police in a positive way
     

For more information the BCJI program, including a list of the 2014 sites, go to https://www.bja.gov/ProgramDetails.aspx?Program_ID=70. To find out how you can participate, email Barb Biondo, Project coordinator at [email protected].

 


art
Blake Haygood and Deborah Paine

Appreciating Art

SYVPI's move to its new location in October, took a giant leap forward when works from the City's collection of public art was installed in the reception area, conference room, and hallways of the Initiatives new space in Suite 1640 on the 16th floor of the Seattle Municipal Tower.

 

The artwork was compliments of a Seattle program adopted in 1973 that specifies that 1% of eligible funds for the city's capital improvement projects be set aside for the commission, purchase, and installation of artwork in public spaces. Seattle was one of the first cities in the United States to adopt such a program, and today its collection includes more than 380 permanently sited works, and 2,800 portable works. (Read more about Seattle's Public Art program at http://www.seattle.gov/arts/publicart/default.asp. You can also download a guide

to over 200 public artworks in downtown Seattle.)  

 

With expert assistance from Curator & Collections Manager Deborah Paine and Curatorial Assistant Blake Haygood, who also installed the art, SYVPI was able to select a number of pieces from the collection to share with visitors to our new space.

 

SYVPI's move, which was reported on in our October E-Newsletter, is expected to be temporary-- until the City's new Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL) is formed and finds its own permanent location. Meanwhile, we invite you to come visit and tour our "gallery."

 


Links to earlier e-newsletters can be found at: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs144/1107990572774/archive/1117171091522.html

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Safe Youth, Safe Community is a newsletter published by the Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative. Our mission is to prevent and reduce youth violence, which has disproportionately affected communities of color in Seattle, through coordinated community mobilization to identify youth at risk of perpetuating or being a victim of violence and connect them with needed support in reaching their full potential. For more information, please visit our website www.safeyouthseattle.org.

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