Street Outreach

“They keep us off the streets, make sure we don’t go without eating, and provide us with a safe ride home at night so we don’t have to walk.”

- Participant

About

Street Outreach is a highly intentional and professionally developed community building program that encompasses mentoring, crisis intervention, conflict mediation, restorative justice and canvassing the neighborhood responding to incidents. The violence intervention model includes case management, weekly programming, social activities, court advocacy, as well educational and career opportunities as the team explores all avenues to cultivate constructive change and positive lifestyle choices. The Outreach team must wear many hats and provide many services to our neighborhoods beyond simple service providers: We are violence interrupters, first responders, restorative justice practitioners, and resource coordinators for emergency financial assistance and housing assistance, reliable and positive weekly youth programming, food delivery, leadership development, juvenile justice specialists ,etc. We are the embodiment of a generalist while specializing and sharing our talents and passions with our participants through our very diverse team who descend from a variety of backgrounds; no amount of networking or programming can replicate the power of a highly-committed, passionate mentor to transform a young person’s life.

‘The streets keep you humble’ so we would be remiss to acknowledge that our work would be impossible without the consent of our community stakeholders and key credible messengers whom work in tandem with us to keep our neighborhood safe; along with collaborating with educational institutions, community organizations and our professional understanding with juvenile probation and law enforcement of our community roles to increase the presence of peace into are neighborhoods.

Donate

75%

of our Outreach Workers live in the community

150+

CP4P participants

History

Street Outreach Workers have also led life through the positive choices our own mentors, both past and present, have inculcated within us as we continue the work and carry the torch of a lifestyle that is not simply a job or a hobby, but it is intertwined into the fabric of our identities and lives. Presently, 75% of our Outreach Workers are neighbors and community members with our participants and their families, or live in the vicinity of the communities we serve. Our commitment extends beyond any funding or single mentoring relationship; when an incident occurs in our neighborhood, Outreach may not only be notified by neighbors and participants, but because it occurs in our own backyard, we have a vested interest to respond and heal the community. Being aware of ongoing situations, past or present, is essential to predict and prevent future incidents; we must take the ‘pulse’ of our neighborhood in order to specialize in the lifestyle.

We understand that the community based approach is essential to the success of our work, therefore we are actively building relationships on a daily basis as the key source of involvement to ensure trust and cultivate partnerships within our respective neighborhoods. Through this intentional connection, we embrace and network with our neighbors and look forward to their presence and participation.

It’s understandable that our work is a daily storm and a daunting task but as we daily deploy our Outreach Workers we realize that ‘God turns miseries into miracles.’ We know that if the work would be without struggles our positions would be replaceable; and, while we would love to have them vanquished by the breeze of peace, until then we will continue to serve our neighbors with unconditional love.