Early Life and Trauma
- The individual has lived two separate lives, with the first one being marked by challenges, including being raised by grandparents due to their mom's struggles with law enforcement and their dad's absence, and this led to gaps in their life that needed to be filled 10s.
- In elementary school, the individual wore a mask to hide their struggles, including being illiterate in third grade and deeply missing their mom, and this mask became a recurring theme throughout their childhood as they faced various traumatic experiences, such as being molested by two different babysitters at ages 7 and 8 2m6s.
- The individual's teenage years were also marked by wearing this mask, as they navigated experiences like smoking weed at 13, seeing their grandparents get divorced at 14, getting robbed at gunpoint at 15, and being involved with friends who were caught up in gang activity at 16 4m42s.
Dual Worlds and Support Systems
- By age 17, the individual was constantly wondering when their time would come, and in this first world, they were considered high-risk, but they also had a second world where their grandparents provided a foundation of care, love, and support, allowing them to explore their interests 6m15s.
- In this second world, the individual had a village of people, including Miss Zerbs, Jimmy Billy, and Mr. Green, who invested in them, saw their humanity and potential, and helped them to attend Georgetown University for free, not once but twice, which gave them a sense of purpose and showed them that they could be anything they wanted to be 8m10s.
University Experience and Survivor's Guilt
- The individual's experience of going to university filled them with survivor's guilt, as they realized that their friends, who had the same amount of humanity and potential, were not given the same opportunities, and they felt a sense of responsibility to make a difference, having seen their friends become victims of gun violence and being incarcerated 10m40s.
Perception and Identity in High-Risk Environments
- The concept of being viewed differently can greatly impact an individual's life, as seen in the case of someone who was able to navigate situations by using their "white voice" and code switching, which allowed them to avoid getting caught for doing the same things as their peers, and this realization is what brought them back to their hometown to shed more light on high-risk youth 10s.
Initiatives for High-Risk Youth
- There is an opportunity for systems and institutions to ensure that individuals like Jerome, who were once considered high-risk, can thrive on purpose rather than by accident, and this is why a new initiative has been developed to work with high-risk youth 2m6s.
- Credible messengers are individuals from the community who have shared lived experiences with high-risk youth and are best equipped to guide them, and they may have had a criminal past, been incarcerated, or been involved in a gang or street-oriented lifestyle, but are now working to positively impact the lives of young people 4m42s.
- The Charleston Police Department has launched a new initiative called High Flyers, which aims to address the root causes of issues faced by high-risk youth by providing trauma-informed therapy, restorative family engagement, place-based workforce development, and credible messenger mentorship 8m15s.
The High Flyers Program and Its Impact
- The High Flyers program has the potential to make a significant impact by providing small, iterative changes that can alter the ultimate destination of a child's life, much like a small change in the trajectory of a plane can result in a vastly different landing point 10m40s.
Risk Assessment and the Consequences of Inaction
- Some may view working with individuals who have a criminal past as risky, but the equation for risk is threats times vulnerabilities times consequences, and the consequences of not trying something new to save young people from gun violence, which is the number one cause of death for young people, outweigh the potential risks 14m10s.
- Municipalities like Boston, Chicago, and Baltimore have found ways to mitigate risk by working with credible messengers and providing wraparound services, resulting in significant reductions in homicide rates, with Baltimore seeing a 50-year low of 133 homicides last year 16m30s.
Successful Models and Community Collaboration
- The city of Columbia has established an office of neighborhood safety and engagement that works with law enforcement, city resources, the school district, and credible messengers to address high-risk youth, and this approach has been proven to be effective 10s.
- To replicate this success in Charleston, it is essential to consider the role that individuals play in the lives of these young people and provide opportunities for them to open up and receive support, essentially being part of the village that helps them 42s.
Call to Action for Individuals and Organizations
- A call to action is made for those who work with high-risk youth to change their perception of them, viewing them not as high-risk, but as emotionally wounded young people who require support and understanding 1m6s.
- For those who do not work directly with high-risk youth, there is also a challenge to support credible messengers and their organizations through advocacy and funding, which can help change policies, provide training, and increase access to resources 1m30s.
- By supporting credible messengers and organizations, individuals can contribute to creating a safer community where young people can receive the help they need to overcome their challenges and thrive 2m6s.
