NYCHA Youth Participate in Anti-Gun Violence Virtual Program

City Program Provided Paid Summer Work 

This summer, young New Yorkers from NYCHA developments and neighborhoods across the city got the chance to make a difference in their communities and learn new skills through virtual classes on topics like starting a business, filmmaking, and journalism – while also getting paid – as part of the Anti-Gun Violence Employment Program (AGVEP). 

AGVEP provides young people ages 14 to 24 who are at risk of being victimized by violence or perpetrating violence with positive activities and employment so that they gain skills which contribute to their social, educational, and professional growth. The anti-gun violence program began in 2016, and its virtual program launched this year in response to COVID-19. 

AGVEP was developed by the Office to Prevent Gun Violence (OPGV) and the Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety (MAP), a program to reduce violence, increase safety, and build stronger neighborhoods at 15 NYCHA developments. Both OPGV and MAP fall under the umbrella of the Office of Neighborhood Safety, created by the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) in December 2019 to improve the sharing of resources and access to assistance to New Yorkers affected by violence. AGVEP also received support from the Young Men’s Initiative. 

The virtual summer program ran over a six-week period in July and August and employed 660 teens and young adults who worked and participated in learning activities for 10 to 15 hours a week and earned a stipend of between $850 and $1,200. 

Participants worked with community-based organizations at 32 employment sites throughout Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Partner organizations included CAMBA, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, Center for Court Innovation, Brownsville Community Justice Center, Gangstas Making Astronomical Community Changes, Bronx Rises Against Gun Violence, Sheltering Arms, and more.  

While some programs were fully virtual, others were a mix of virtual and in-person activities that maintained health practices such as mask-wearing and social distancing. Youth who didn’t have access to internet-connected devices were provided with tablets so they could participate in online classes on topics like financial literacy, entrepreneurship, urban planning, community journalism, movie and music production, podcasting, yoga, Aikido, and coding. 

Jada Leed, 16, of St. Nicholas Houses in Manhattan participated in movie and music production classes, but her favorite was the entrepreneurship program. She runs a small business that makes organic skincare and “learned how to create a business plan. I knew about a business plan, but there were other parts to it that I didn’t learn in school – for example, when I’m doing my numbers to make sure I’m not overpaying what I’m getting back from the customer.” Overall, she said, “AGVEP was a great experience for me and I learned a lot of new things.”  

Ms. Leed participated in AGVEP through the Living Redemption Youth Opportunity Hub (LRYOH), a community-based initiative in Central and West Harlem that primarily served St. Nicholas Houses residents for the summer program. In addition to the virtual classes, she and her 19 fellow participants helped distribute food weekly to 1,800 families. 

“From my experience of being able to facilitate the AGVEP program, the online enrichment, as well as the physical contact these youth were able to have during this traumatic time, was very beneficial,” said Dorin Hammond, Program Coordinator at LRYOH. “The youth we’re dealing with already suffered through trauma before coronavirus (and we were trying to work on those traumas), and then we got hit with coronavirus. So, this program was empowering for them and a saving grace; it helped bring back some of our youth who were close to committing a crime.” 

At the Butler Community Center in the Bronx, 20 young people helped keep the center open and provide the necessary services community members rely on from the center. “Without AGVEP and our young people, DFOY would’ve been shut down for six weeks. And we don’t only do Summer Youth Employment or summer camp, we help people find jobs, we help people do housing recertifications and apply for emergency assistance,” said Clyde Thompson, Program Director for Directions For Our Youth, Inc. (DFOY), which manages the Butler Community Center. The center’s staffing was down due to the pandemic. 

In addition to working in two shifts to keep the center open five days a week, AGVEP youth helped run the PAL Playstreets outdoor activities for children program; produced and recorded a television show on community issues that airs on BronxNet this September; stuffed more than 800 backpacks with supplies that were donated to local children; and distributed fresh produce to 160 families weekly in partnership with World Central Kitchen and Assembly Member Michael Blake. 

Jainney Satterfield, 19 of Butler Houses said, “During the AGVEP program, I have learned how to host by speaking up with confidence and not being afraid to voice my opinions and now I’ve learned to be more social with meeting and interviewing different people.”  

AGVEP, according to the youth participants and community partner staff, was a bright spot during a time of uncertainty that not only enriched the lives of its young participants but also provided much-needed assistance to their communities at large.