As the Michigan Youth Violence Prevention Center prepares to enter a new chapter in its development, we would like to update you on the various ways in which the programs we have offered over the last five years are moving into the future. Five out of six MI-YVPC are continuing in some form, both in Genesee County and beyond.
Sync, which provides violence prevention counseling to youth treated at Hurley Medical Center’s emergency department, will continue to operate under the name SafERteens. The Youth Empowerment Solutions (YES) program is currently offered at seven Genesee County schools through a grant from NIH. YES has been replicated by numerous organizations around the country, notably through the CDC STRYVE program in Boston, Houston, Salinas and Portland, OR, and soon in Baton Rouge. LA. Fathers and Sons is being rolled out in Chicago, IL through a grant from the National Institutes of Health. Although the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Flint will not be continuing the mentoring program, they offer great programs for youth through their Averill Street and Haskell Center locations. Community Mobilization activities are continuing through the Youth Violence Prevention through Environmental Design grant, a partnership with the University Avenue Corridor Coalition, and a Byrne Criminal Justice grant which brings together researchers from Michigan State, Kettering, UM-Flint and the UM School of Public Health. The Genesee County Land Bank’s Clean and Green program is a centerpiece of the new MI-YVPC research to study the effects of community-engaged greening activities in three U.S. cities: Flint, MI, Youngstown, OH, and Camden, NJ.
Thanks to the hard work of MI-YVPC partners and the support of the Flint community, these programs will continue to contribute to safe and healthy futures for years to come.