Violence Prevention Initiative Update 

Volume 4, Issue 3 - April 2013
 

Upcoming Events
  
  
Several youth from the VPI community partnerships will be participating in a Listening Session with Chief Edward Flynn. The sessions are designed to give youth an opportunity to share concerns and offer suggestions for improving relations between the youth community and police. The session will be hosted at the Holton Youth + Family Center.  
  
VPI partners, Running Rebels Community Organization invites the community to attend the Anti-Violence Peace Rally to affirm a spirit of unity in the community to combat violence and crime in Milwaukee's neighborhoods. The Peace Rally will feature urban music mogul and star of the hit television series Law & Order:Special Victims Unit Ice-T, along with other special guests. The Rally starts at 12:00p.m.on the grounds outside of RRCO (corner of N. 13th St.&W. Fond Du Lac Avenue). For more information contact Victor Barnett (414) 264-8222.

VPI Youth Leadership Council Prepares For Pebbles of Peace Conference II April 18th, 2013
The VPI Youth Leadership Council, in partnership with Cardinal Stritch University's Leadership Center and the House of Peace will host the Pebbles of Peace Outweighing Boulders of Violence II Youth Conference.

The conference is a follow-up event from the successful Pebbles conference held November 2012. The theme of the conference dealt with the role of the bystander in bullying. Groups attending the conference formulated projects to implement change in their respective communities, and the Pebbles II conference will be an opportunity for the groups to reunite and share the results of their projects. The Pebbles II "Reunion" will be Thursday April 18th, 2013 on the campus of Cardinal Stritch University.

 

 

The Holton Hero Housewarming event will be the grand opportunity to meet staff and tour the newly renovated youth center. Come and learn more about the innovative programs and volunteer opportunities being offered at HYFC. For more information call (414) 226-6210.
  
  
Join us in wearing Denim on April 24th, 2013 as a symbol of your protest against erroneous and destructive attitudes about sexual assault.  
  
  
Jewish Family Services and VPI are excited to host Dr. Jackson Katz at the Italian Conference Center in Milwaukee on Wednesday, May 1st. His multimedia presentation, entitled: "Tough Guise: Violence, Media, and the Crisis in Masculinity," will be open to the community. In this program, Katz will illustrate how mainstream media images from sports, television, Hollywood film, and music videos help promote violent masculinity as a cultural norm.
  

UW-Milwaukee Center for Urban Initiatives & Research and MCW Violence Prevention Initiative presents Restorative Practices Conference May 29th at the Italian Conference Center 7:30am - 3:30pm.
  
  
Race For Peace is a community event to promote peace within the community as an opportunity for youth to take a leadership role and be a strong voice in calling for an end to violence in Milwaukee. Participating youth from across the city will be encouraged to build soap box cars representing their own communities, decorated with a message that promotes peace and an end to violence, crime, and drugs. The cornerstone of this family event will be the soap box car races. It will be a great opportunity to spend a day in the park with family and friends.
Registration for the event is open until April 15th, 2013 for youth ages 8-16 to participate. For more information contact Jessica Vaughn (414) 464-4440 ext.225 or [email protected]
   
  
VPI Staff Attend Art of Living Foundation Event  
  
The Art of Living Foundation hosted the Meditate for Non-Violence event at the Donald Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois, March 29th, 2013. Internationally renowned humanitarian and founder, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar received special invited guest for a VIP reception, with our own Ann Bria of the VPI being amongst the honored invitees.
Later that evening at the awards ceremony, the following champions for non-violence from the Chicago area were honored including:  Ronald and Annette Holt, co-founders of Purpose Over Pain in the wake of their son's murder on a CTA school bus by a stray bullet; Ameena Matthews of Ceasefire Chicago, working as an interrupter to decrease violence; Onedelee Perteet who became a quadriplegic at the age of 14 from a bullet to his spine and speaks about nonviolence throughout Chicago; photographer, Carlos Javier Ortiz whose photo series Too Young to Die has won numerous awards; former NFL football player Levar Fisher, founder of Freeze and Think; and 88 year old Ratanji Dhimar, one of Mahatma Gandhi's original Freedom Fighters.  

  
Ripple Effect Milwaukee's 2nd Annual April Friend's Day Event 
  

The Fitzsimonds Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee hosted the 2nd Annual April Friend's Day event on April 1st. April 1st or "April Fools Day" is commonly known as a day for pranks and gags. Hijinks, even those initiated with good intentions, can perpetuate conflict and indignity, two root causes of violence. One of the main goals of April Friends Day is to work with youth to reclaim April 1st from this cultural norm while introducing skills that promote peace and dignity. 

 

Sixty-six youth from five Ripple Effect Milwaukee sites (Davis, Mary Ryan, Fitzsimonds, North Division CLC and LaVarnway) and one community partner (Urban Underground) attended a half-day full of activities where youth participated in a creative "friendship" bracelet activity (conducted by Milwaukee Public Theater), a Bully Expert Martial Arts demonstration (provided by the Vistelar Group), and a very interactive, engaging, youth led table discussion which focused on Bullying solutions (from a youth perspective).  Marquette University's Center for Peacemaking students were also present to assist with the overall event and co-facilitation of the youth led discussions.
  

  
  
 
 
Our VPI Partners
  

 

 
  
 
       Research Corner:
  
Topic: New From Child Trends:
  

 

  
 

Mentoring "is a structured and trusting relationship that brings young people together with caring individuals who offer guidance, support and encouragement aimed at developing the competence and character of the mentee"1. Having a positive caring relationship with an adult is a protective factor from youth violence-related outcomes.

 

This Child Trends Research Brief examines 19 mentoring programs to determinehow frequently these programs are effective in improving such outcomes as education, mental health, peer and parent relationships, and behavior problems. Findings include:

  • Mentoring programs that target at-risk youth or are community-based (versus school-based) are more frequently effective;
  • Programs lasting a year or longer are more likely to be effective;
  • Mentoring approaches are most useful in helping children with education, social skills and relationships;
  • Mentoring programs aimed at behavior problems are less frequently effective.

 

Citation: 

National Research Agenda. (2004). The urgent need for mentoring research. MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership.  

  
 

 

This project is a special funded initiative of the Healthier Wisconsin Partnership Program, a component of the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin endowment at the Medical College of Wisconsin.