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Organizational History, Mission, Goals and Approach
History and Mission: LIFE Camp, Inc. (Love Ignites Freedom through Education) started its violence prevention work in schools in 2002, and was incorporated as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization in 2006. LIFE Camp was formed following the tragic killings of two New York City children, seven year-old Daesean Hill from Brooklyn and fifteen year-old Taquan ‘Cheese’ Jackson. These deaths inspired a group of local young people to change their lives and LIFE Camp was the vehicle created to help them. LIFE Camp’s successful high school attendance and behavior improvement program achieved major social credibility with youth participants, who as a result pressured the program’s founder and well-known social justice activist, Erica Ford, to develop an after school and weekend program for their peers and families.
In 2006, LIFE Camp was incorporated as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, with the mission to provide a “second chance” to youth ages 13-24 who are disconnected from educational, employment, and social opportunities. LIFE Camp teaches “at risk” youth how to avoid the pitfalls of incarceration, gang involvement, substance abuse and dropping out of school. LIFE Camp harnesses youth interest in media and the arts to foster personal and community leadership skills, critical thinking and decision-making, and business development/entrepreneurial skills. LIFE Camp takes a three pronged approach to addressing youth violence: aggressive marketing and awareness campaigns, community partnerships and mobilization, and targeted on-the-ground prevention and intervention. Today, LIFE Camp’s office is located at Epiphany Lutheran Church in the heart of Jamaica, Queens (228-01 130th Avenue, Jamaica, NY 11413-1355. LIFE Camp includes 1 paid staff, 25 peer leaders, and 100 volunteers, who engage thousands of youth per year through three major programs. LIFE Camp’s involved Board of Directors is diverse and includes a broad spectrum of professions and expertise.
Goals: LIFE Camp’s programs offer a holistic approach to working with youth in their communities. We strive to challenge youth to think critically about their lives and the choices they make. LIFE Camp provides positive youth development activities for youth in high need communities in order to achieve the following goals:
- Prevent and reduce youth violence, including gang involvement, and provide community-driven intervention and mediation services “on the ground” in targeted communities
- Prevent youth entry and re-entry into the criminal justice system
- Prevent youth substance use
- Support academic achievement and provide educational and professional development opportunities
- Develop and enhance positive relationships between youth and adult role models in their communities
- Raise awareness and generate community action for change through collaboration with community stakeholders including media icons, entrepreneurs, faith-based communities, non-profit organizations, and government
Approach:
Violence Prevention and Intervention. LIFE Camp incorporates best practice in youth violence prevention and intervention and tailors activities to fit the unique community ecology and culture in the neighborhoods we serve. According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, effective prevention of youth involvement in gangs includes: community mobilization, social intervention, opportunities for educational and vocational advancements, and organizational change. LIFE Camp, Inc. uses film and media as a powerful vehicle to implement these strategies in communities with youth, and has successfully engaged major collaborative partners in the media including Hip Hop icon Russell Simmons, Hop Hop artists and Sports Celebrities including Wyclef Jean, Run DMC, Cheryl “Salt” Wray, Sandra “Pepa” Denton, Dana “Queen Latifah” Owens, Superbowl Champion Michael Strahan, and media outlets including major NYC radio stations Hot 97, Kiss FM and Power 105, and Source Magazine, the “bible” of Hip Hop music, culture and politics.
Positive Youth Development. LIFE Camp provides positive youth development opportunities that harness youth and community strengths and resources to address the epidemic of youth violence, and the conditions and behaviors associated with youth violence such as substance abuse, criminal justice involvement, and poor academic and professional engagement. LIFE Camp’s programs and services are community driven and holistic- developed with the understanding that the best solutions to community problems reside in the hearts and minds of the community, and that strong collaboration and coordination of diverse stakeholders is essential to achieving positive outcomes for youth. LIFE Camp has developed services that reflect an intimate understanding of local community ecology, and that have the unique ability to connect and mobilize youth and community members to prevent and heal from violence in New York City’s most underserved communities.
Media Literacy. LIFE Camp harnesses youth interest in media to teach media literacy, encouraging youth to ask questions about what they watch, hear, and read. LIFE Camp provides tools to help youth critically analyze messages, offers opportunities for learners to broaden their experience of media, and helps them develop creative and professional skills in making their own media (film and music). Critical analysis includes detecting propaganda, censorship, and bias in news and public affairs programming (and the reasons for these), and how youth and people of color are portrayed in the media. Youth are taught to understand how structural features such as media ownership affect the information presented, and the importance of developing their own messages and voice in the media through skills development and entrepreneurship. LIFE Camp recruits positive mentors from the community to work directly with youth to achieve their goals.
Community Mobilization and Public-Private Partnerships. LIFE Camp also has had great success in community organizing and mobilization, and the development of public-private partnerships critical to raising awareness. LIFE Camp is a true grass-roots organization, that accomplishes its goals and objectives primarily through a strong volunteer base of more than 100 local community members and in-kind contributions equal to funds acquired through fundraising activities- an indicator of the local community’s need and support of the critical and life-saving services that LIFE Camp provides.
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