Kawame Curry knows firsthand what it’s like to get help from organizations focused on keeping children safe. He also knows what’s possible when that doesn’t happen.
Curry’s childhood memories are filled with one of his first friends, Terry Cooley. “We would throw rocks, catch frogs, do all these things that kids are supposed to do at that age,” Curry says.
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Curry grew up in a housing project in Pontiac, MI, north of Detroit. Because his mother was concerned about outside influences and the fact that there wasn’t a man in the household, she enrolled Curry in a mentoring program at the Michigan Association for Leadership Development. He would regularly attend Saturday workshops in Pontiac.
“This one particular Saturday, Terry agreed to join me,” Curry says. “But (he) later changed his mind.”
Thinking nothing of it, Curry figured that the two would meet up later that day. But they’d never get another chance to catch frogs, hang out, or frolic around their neighborhood again. That day, Cooley, a young teen, was shot and killed.
“His death pushed me to do what I’m doing today, and to teach the youth about choices.” — Kawame Curry, Peer2You
What Curry saw that afternoon stayed with him. “On the way back home from that workshop, there was a crowd surrounding Terry’s apartment. It was snowing, and there was a body laying right there in the snow. I didn’t know at that time it was Terry,” Curry says. “I carried that weight with me for a while, because I felt if I pushed him hard enough to come with me, he would still be here. But that choice, at that moment, he chose to stay, and even to this day, I still don’t know what the reason was, but he was killed.”
Curry credits his mother and mentors with keeping him safe as a child. He recently moved to Philadelphia to start anew, this time as a father of adult children. He works as the supervisor of Peer2You, a gun violence prevention program run by Intercultural Family Services.
Every day, as Curry mentors Philly youth, Terry remains on his mind. “His death pushed me to do what I’m doing today, and to teach the youth about choices,” he says.
Conflict resolution training
Peer2You is one of many community-based organizations focused on supporting Philly youth by providing safe havens and recreational activities. This year, these groups have become even more important. As The Trace’s Mensah M. Dean reported, Philadelphia is experiencing a surge in children and teens being charged with gun violence despite the drastic drop in overall shootings citywide.
To change that trend, the City of Philadelphia continues to develop its multifaceted plan to address youth violence, by supporting initiatives like the Group Violence Intervention Juvenile program, Philadelphia Youth Violence Reduction Partnerships, and the Philadelphia Roadmap to Cleaner, Greener, and Safer Communities.
Organizations like Peer2You claim to have seen recent success in their youth programming, leading some to expand even as GVI funding dries up. These organizations are providing life, vocational, and social skills training to help Philadelphia children and teens stay safe and supported.
“One way to develop empathy is to work with others … They’ll learn about boundaries; setting them and respecting them.” — Najwah Abul-Sabur, Imani Star Development
Peer2You, Curry’s organization, is only two years old. “We focus on the social-emotional needs of youth and the tools they need to prevent gun violence. So we’re talking about conflict resolution and self awareness. We’re talking about choices and decisions,” Curry says. “We want them to know that you have options. I feel like some of my friends who fell by the wayside didn’t know what the options were.”
Curry believes that Peer2You’s approach works because they actively listen to young people. “We don’t want to preach to them like, hey, guns are bad. They know that,” he says. “We want them to know that there’s more options out there for them, and to equip them with the tools to use when they find themselves in any given situation. They’re able to step back, assess and weigh their options.”
Learning to manage emotions
Najwah Abul-Sabur, the education coordinator at Imani Star Development, also attributes much of her organization’s success to actively listening, offering options, and allowing young people to express themselves. She has three adult children who have benefited from youth programming at the nonprofit.
Some of Imani’s programming focuses on young men — but young women are welcome, too. “One of the major things that we’ve noticed is that young men often struggle with being able to manage their emotions,” Abdul-Sabur says. “One way to develop empathy is to work with others. … They’ll learn about boundaries; setting them and respecting them.”
“Providing youth programming is paramount if we want to reduce gun violence.” — Gary Mills, Shoot Basketballs Not People
Parenting young boys, Abdul-Sabur shares, was not easy. Her eldest son was rebellious, but turned his life around after falling victim to gun violence as a teen. “He got shot five times,” Abdul-Sabur says. “He had to learn how to walk again, talk again, and even breathe again. He went back to school, and graduated with a 3.8 G.P.A.” Since his recovery, he has served as a mentor to others. Now, at age 21, he is a skilled professional and will join his two other siblings as Imani youth program facilitators this summer. Together, they hope to prevent other kids from walking into gunfire.
This summer’s Imani Star offerings focus on fostering positive behavior through recreational activities and vocational training including podcasting, drone piloting, sewing, and photography.
Shooting hoops, not each other
“We don’t want these kids being idle on iPads and iPhones all day, when they can be doing something constructive throughout the day with other children and also building out their social skills away from laptops and cell phones,” says Gary Mills, who founded Shoot Basketballs Not People.
This summer, Shoot Basketballs Not People is operating out of two different facilities. Its year-round free sports program continues to take place at Germantown Friends High School, and it’s also hosting a summer camp at Northeast High School, where kids can participate in competitive games and team-building activities while developing leadership skills in a safe space led by experienced coaches.
“Providing youth programming is paramount if we want to reduce gun violence,” Mills says. “We’re losing kids to homelessness. We’re losing kids to drug and alcohol addiction, and we’re losing kids to gun violence. So if we’re giving them something to do and it keeps their minds going we can help to keep them safe.”
The organizations mentioned in this story are now included in The Trace’s Philly gun violence resource guide. Learn more by visiting uptheblock.org
Afea Tucker has a deep love for her city and its diverse communities. She oversees Up the Block, a resource and information hub for Philadelphians who have been affected by gun violence. Before joining The Trace, Afea was a veteran media professional and freelance journalist whose work had been published by The Philadelphia Tribune, WHYY, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and other news organizations.
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