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Friend, it’s been a busy few weeks since I last wrote with an update. The number of violent incidents have continued to rise at rates we haven’t experienced out here in decades. We had another shooting Wednesday night. With funds raised thanks to your generosity, we’ve started to expand our work.
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We’ve increased the number of violence interrupters on our team. We’ve expanded our work and deepened engagement with the faith-based community. We’re launching our Emergency Fellowship program: removing high risk individuals from the streets and placing them in an intensive wraparound job training program. We’ve started to expand our Therapeutic and Wellness team.
We’ve captured some highlights from the past few weeks at LIFE Camp in the message below.
Thank you for your support, Friend. We look forward to continue building with you.
Peace and Blessings,
Erica Ford
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What Did I Miss at LIFE Camp?
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Community Shooting Response
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Last Friday, LIFE Camp’s partner CMS sites from across NYC rallied with our community in SE Queens in response to the 25+ incidents of violence (shootings + stabbings) we’ve seen in under a 6-weeks span. We gathered at the site of the first shooting in South Jamaica and marched to Rochdale. Together, we rallied for peace with every step of the mile-long march, alongside the Peacemobile.
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The Shooting Response comes amidst a new report that gunshot victims in Queens are more likely to die than in any other borough in NYC.
See the PIX11 News Report here.
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Port Authority Partnership Announcement
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LIFE Camp is excited to be partnering and building with Port Authority in bringing more resources and opportunities into southeast Queens. Together, we're on the road towards co-producing public safety and making peace a LIFEstyle.
When we invest in a community — we must invest in the people who live in that community. It's so important that the Port Authority partners with local community-based organizations in southeast Queens to bring resources and career opportunities to those often forgotten in the world's borough. We're glad to see Port Authority doing this intentional building.
Read the full press release including LIFE Camp’s statement here.
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"Breaking The Cycle Of Violence With Corey Booker" Congressional Briefing
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On Thursday, October 17th, Senator Cory Booker and Congressman Steven Horsford hosted a briefing and panel discussion on Community-Based Gun Violence Prevention at the Senate Dirksen Building in Washington, DC.
The panel of experts included:
Pastor Mike McBride: Black & Brown Gun Violence Prevention Consortium, Oakland, CA
Katherine Phillips: Giffords Courage to Fight Gun Violence, Washington DC
Erica Ford: Life Camp Inc, NYC
Anthony Smith: Cities United, Louisville, KY
Jeff Brown: Rebuilding Every City Around Peace (RECAP), Boston, MA
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee also attended and gave brief remarks.
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The goal of this historic briefing was to inform staffers about the effectiveness of community based gun violence prevention while highlighting funding needs for community based gun violence intervention programs. With 100,000 lives being lost every year and 75% of homicides being black or brown people, we need to empower communities to peacebuild in order to see real change.
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2020 Gun Safety Presidential Forum
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Friends and family of LIFE Camp attended the 2020 Gun Safety Presidential Forum, hosted by March For Our Lives. Our team listened to and met with presidential hopefuls to put the issue of gun violence in black and brown communities on the agenda. It was a tremendous opportunity to learn more about what 2020 presidential candidates will do to keep our communities safe from gun violence.
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Faith-Based Responder Kickoff
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On Wednesday, October 16th, LIFE Camp partnered with LIVE Free and the God Squad to convene faith leaders from across Queens to discuss the role of the faith community in responding to the public health crisis of gun violence. The group left with a plan and energized to mobilize a larger convening in the coming months. Beginning in November, LIFE Camp will launch a Faith Coordinator role to expand and deepen our work with the faith community.
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On October 30th, our friends at The GodSquad will host an intensive training on their battled tested model on reducing gun violence through faith-based partnerships and street-level engagement. Sign up here.
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Queens Royal Priest Hood Presents 2nd Annual Run/Walk
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LIFE Camp joined our friends at Rock Safe Streets for the Queens Royal Priesthood 2nd Annual Run/Walk. Starting at Beach 90th Street Broadwalk, participants began running or walking to Beach 17th Street, where they were met with giveaways and performances.
The purpose of this run was to support and uplift our Far Rockaway communities dealing with issues of disease and violence. We all came together to show that no one is alone in their suffering.
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Anti-Gun Violence Community Conversation
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LIFE Camp participated in a community conversation hosted by local Queens politicians, in response to the recent escalation of shootings in SE Queens. In the dialogue, we discussed violence prevention, community solutions, and resources for southeast Queens to address this drastic rise of shootings in the past six weeks. One message was very clear: we need the resources to expand our work.
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On Thu Oct 10, 2019, following the recent escalation of shootings in SE Queens, our friends — Sarah Sophie Flicker, Jenna Arnold, Cindi Leive, Chris Wilson, Deepak Chopra , Diane Chang-Wardi, Ilana Glazer, Lisa Licht, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Matt Deutsch, Michael Skolnik, Missy Modell, Peter Sarsgard, Paola Mendoza, Rachel Noerdlinger, Shelly Palmer and Uzo Aduba — hosted an intimate emergency fundraiser for LIFE Camp. We spent the evening sharing stories, strategies and building community.
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83rd Annual NAACP New York State Conference Convention
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LIFE Camp attended the NAACP NYS Conference Convention in White Plains, NY, to discuss a new approach to Juvenile Justice under the Crisis Management System. Detailing the history of LIFE Camp, we broke down the theory of Cure Violence - treating violence like a public health issue - and how we apply it on the streets.
For the past 83 years, The NAACP New York State Conference has been and still is the premier Civil Rights organization in New York State. Now more than ever, the NAACP is working aggressively to raise awareness and continues to work tirelessly at the state and local levels to bring about improvements in Education, access to quality and affordable Health Care, promote Economic Development, and fight for fairness in our Criminal Justice systems.
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LIFE Camp’s Therapeutic and Wellness team participated in Heal! Grow! Thrive!: a convening hosted at the Howard Theater in Washington DC by Forward Promise, a national program office of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The subject of the convening was “Disrupting Dehumanization and Affirming the Humanity of Boys and Young Men of Color” (BYMOC), hosted by Rhonda Tsoi-A-Fatta Bryant & Howard Stevenson of Forward Promise, and emceed by Montgomery County Councilmember, Will Jawando.
Through panel discussions led by youth and professionals, artistic performances and monologues by empowerment grantees, the convening highlighted how the dehumanization of boys and young men of color takes place in public systems, the impact it has on them, and the need to disrupt these narratives that deny our boys and young men of color the tools they need to succeed.
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As part of our youth job exposure program, LIFE Camp youth leaders attended a wedding event setup with the BellaMe experience, where they learned a variety of skills when it comes to floral design planning. This event allowed students to be paired with event staff where they received hands on training in floral design and arrangement, and venue setup.
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100 Suits 3rd Annual Black Tie Gala
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On October 19th, LIFE Camp’s Founder and Executive Director Erica Ford was honored at the festive “100 Suits for 100 Men 3rd Annual Black-Tie Gala” for her outstanding work and activism in the areas of civic, social, and criminal justice reform.
Founded in 2011 by Mr. Kevin Livingston, 100 Suits’ original goal was to create a program in Queens, NY to address the underserved needs of the formerly incarcerated by providing them with business attire to aide in the job search process. Eight years later, they have expanded their initial mission to include outreach services such as: employment referrals, resume workshops, mentorship and life skills programs, and women’s services.
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Every Thursday, LIFE Camp hosts Technology Thursday in our Learning Lab, where young folks come to learn new skills about technology and decompress with fun gadgets, like Occulus Go Virtual Reality headsets.
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Barbershop Training Wednesdays
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LIFE Camp launched an 8-weeks barber training program. The program teaches enrollees the vocational skill of grooming and entrepreneurship. The program focuses on classroom education of barbering, plus hands-on experience, resulting in graduates being able to pursue a career in the barbering trade.
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Every Wednesday, LIFE Camp hosts an in-house Yoga program. Developed in partnership with The Chopra Foundation and Ashtanga Yoga NY Director Eddie Stern, this program brings yoga to our community. The goal is to provide positive alternatives to violence, bullying and other forms of antisocial behavior. Young people who are invested in practice can join our “Urban Yogis” program, a training program which provides Yoga & Meditation instruction for youth in communities impacted by gun violence. At the end of the program, participants will be able to teach these tools to their community & peer
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PEACE IS A PROCESS
Peace is a process. Part of this process includes equipping everyday people with the tools they need in order to resolve conflict peacefully. The New York City Crisis Management System trains and deploys VIPS (Violence Intervention and Prevention Specialists) to high-risk areas to help de-escalate gang violence and retaliation, teach non-violent conflict resolution, and to promote peaceful alternatives. The Crisis Management System is directly responsible for a 15% overall decrease in shootings in New York City, with as much as an 80% in individual service areas, and 0% shootings in areas directly supported by VIPS. The system works. Help us strengthen this system and expand our work to more communities in need. LIFE Camp is a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organization. Your contribution is tax-deductible. And life-saving.
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