GANG PREVENTION GRANT BRINGS OPPORTUNITY TO AT-RISK YOUTH IN GRESHAM
News Release from City of Gresham
Posted on FlashAlert: October 8th, 2014 8:35 AM
GRESHAM, Ore. - Late-night basketball and gang intervention programs to boost youth education and employment are coming to the City of Gresham thanks to a state grant.
The $100,000 grant from the Oregon Youth Development Council will allow the City to launch early-intervention programs. They include:
* Basketball every Friday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at H.B. Lee Middle School, located at 1121 N.E. 172nd Ave. in Gresham's Rockwood neighborhood. Supervised games, with coaches and referees, will target at-risk Gresham middle and high school students. The program is a partnership with Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center, which will organize and promote the sessions.
* An 18-week counseling and mentoring program designed to teach at-risk students communication skills, coping mechanisms and conflict management. The program is a partnership with the Portland alternative high school Rosemary Anderson High School and the Portland nonprofit Peace in Schools.
* A youth education and employment program, in partnership with SE Works, that features weekly meetings to help young people identify - and achieve - their career and education goals by creating a resume, earning a food handler's card, developing a career plan and either getting a job, staying in school, or enrolling in the Portland Community College Career Pathways Program.
"In Gresham, we have a strong law enforcement approach to gangs, and we are rapidly increasing our prevention and intervention efforts," Gresham Mayor Shane Bemis said. "To reduce gang violence in the future, we need to have a hard focus on law enforcement and an equally strong focus on prevention. As a community, we need to address the root causes of gang involvement, such as unemployment, the drop-out rate, and the hopelessness, anger and boredom felt by some urban teens."
The City has recently added a Gang Prevention Policy Advisor to its ranks, helping focus energy on grant opportunities such as this, and coordinating with regional law enforcement and prevention partners. In May, the City held a Gang Prevention and Enforcement Summit that brought together local leaders to outline a multi-agency approach to gang prevention and enforcement in Gresham. This past June, a countywide gang assessment was released, which provided a snapshot of gang activity, community perceptions, and service gaps affecting gang-involved youth. A copy of the assessment can be found at https://multco.us/file/34749/download
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The $100,000 grant from the Oregon Youth Development Council will allow the City to launch early-intervention programs. They include:
* Basketball every Friday from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at H.B. Lee Middle School, located at 1121 N.E. 172nd Ave. in Gresham's Rockwood neighborhood. Supervised games, with coaches and referees, will target at-risk Gresham middle and high school students. The program is a partnership with Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center, which will organize and promote the sessions.
* An 18-week counseling and mentoring program designed to teach at-risk students communication skills, coping mechanisms and conflict management. The program is a partnership with the Portland alternative high school Rosemary Anderson High School and the Portland nonprofit Peace in Schools.
* A youth education and employment program, in partnership with SE Works, that features weekly meetings to help young people identify - and achieve - their career and education goals by creating a resume, earning a food handler's card, developing a career plan and either getting a job, staying in school, or enrolling in the Portland Community College Career Pathways Program.
"In Gresham, we have a strong law enforcement approach to gangs, and we are rapidly increasing our prevention and intervention efforts," Gresham Mayor Shane Bemis said. "To reduce gang violence in the future, we need to have a hard focus on law enforcement and an equally strong focus on prevention. As a community, we need to address the root causes of gang involvement, such as unemployment, the drop-out rate, and the hopelessness, anger and boredom felt by some urban teens."
The City has recently added a Gang Prevention Policy Advisor to its ranks, helping focus energy on grant opportunities such as this, and coordinating with regional law enforcement and prevention partners. In May, the City held a Gang Prevention and Enforcement Summit that brought together local leaders to outline a multi-agency approach to gang prevention and enforcement in Gresham. This past June, a countywide gang assessment was released, which provided a snapshot of gang activity, community perceptions, and service gaps affecting gang-involved youth. A copy of the assessment can be found at https://multco.us/file/34749/download
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