| Purpose : |
The Jamestown Crime and Gang Prevention Project will decrease gang involvement and delinquent behaviours by enhancing resiliency, pro-social behaviours and positive attitudes of youth in the Jamestown community. This will be accomplished through a multifaceted, holistic project that strengthens social supports and community relationships. Project activities include: in-school, after-school, and summer mentoring of youth and their siblings who are at risk for crime and/or gang involvement; the facilitation of discussions with youth about school, hope, dignity; assisting them in establishing specific short-term and long-term goals; and the facilitation of discussions with youth about violence, anger and conflict.
The project's diverse community partner coalition will combine and leverage their expertise, resulting in the delivery of a highly effective community crime prevention project. New agencies, such as the Greater Jamestown Community Resource Centre, will be trained and enabled to deliver the in-school, after-school, and summer mentoring project in the Jamestown community, while partnering agencies will co-deliver the elements that line up with their specific areas of expertise. Three Jamestown area middle schools and one secondary school will partner with the project, providing student referrals and valuable in-kind space for the implementation of the project's activities.
Youth ownership and leadership will be critical to the success of this project. Youth will be hired to lead and deliver various components of the project, and will be asked to volunteer with the project to be mentors in their former middle school. The youth involved will determine the exact components of the project through “Youth Speak Outs” occurring at each school, and by completing a survey. By enhancing resiliency, pro-social behaviours and positive attitudes, this project will strive to reduce youth crime and victimization in the Jamestown area by increasing knowledge of its root causes and through addressing some of the factors that affect the probabilities of criminality and victimization.
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