vision 20/20

The Vision 20/20 Initiative is a broad-based, grassroots coalition of more than 50 community stakeholders working to stop and prevent gang and community violence in Pasadena and Altadena. The Initiative was launched by Pasadena Councilmember Jacque Robinson after a series of gang-related shootings took the lives of ten local young people in 2007. Flintridge serves on the Organizing Team that develops the agenda for Vision 20/20’s collaborative efforts and provides overall coordination and fiscal management for the alliance. With technical support from the L.A. County Commission on Human Relations and Flintridge’s facilitation, the coalition is developing and implementing practical and strategic solutions to prevent and reduce community violence.

The Apprenticeship Preparation Program addresses the need for jobs and job training as a strategy to provide alternatives to gang involvement. The free, junior college-level course, combined with case management services, helps individuals who are hard-to-employ, gang-impacted or have been incarcerated prepare for paid apprenticeships and careers in the construction trades. Pasadena City College provides instructors for the course; the City of Pasadena provides the use of community centers for two classes each semester; 12 unions participate by providing speakers or hosting site visits to training centers; Pasadena Mental Health Center provides case management; multiple nonprofit and governmental programs refer their constituents; and Flintridge coordinates the collaborative program and raises funds to sustain it.

The Community Violence Intervention-Prevention Institute & Network provides gang intervention and violence prevention education to service providers and community volunteers working with gang-impacted youth, young adults and their families. The Institute’s pilot class launched in the summer of 2009 with technical support from the L.A. County Commission on Human Relations and funding from The California Endowment. Taught by community gang experts, the free, 36-hour course teaches participants about outreach strategies and conflict resolution techniques used to defuse situations of tension and conflict. The curriculum covers the root causes of violence, gang history and dynamics. Participants also learn about the range of local social service programs and resources so that they can help troubled individuals and their families find assistance. The Institute has offered four courses to date and trained 54 participants.

SKILLZ Summer School is a free summer learning experience for teens most at risk of dropping out of school or failing to graduate. A 16-member coalition of nonprofit and faith-based agencies designed, organized and implemented the July 2011 program that focused on students entering 9th and 10th grades. Students who successfully completed the mix of life-skills workshops and academic classes could earn up to ten school credits each. SKILLZ served 150 students in its second summer, more than doubling the number of youth served.

Flintridge and the Pasadena Police Department launched, and Flintridge coordinates, the Pasadena/Altadena Reintegration Council, a coalition of community-based, faith-based, philanthropic, business, civic and educational organizations designed to assist formerly incarcerated individuals who are returning to our community. This grassroots collaborative provides comprehensive services and resources to help them reintegrate back into the community.

A concerted approach to violence prevention

In March 2010, Flintridge was selected by the Pasadena City Council to serve as the community-based “institutional home” for local service providers addressing community violence. The need for a lead agency to serve as a convener and facilitator for a collaborative effort was among the recommendations in an analysis of Pasadena’s youth/young adult service gaps. Flintridge’s responsibilities include convening providers, creating linkages to close critical service gaps (particularly for at-risk young adults between the ages of 17 and 25) and helping to ensure the effective coordination of city services and policies to effectively deal with violence. This has involved expanding the Vision 20/20 partnership and its activities and mobilizing a concerted, cross-sector response to deliver comprehensive and integrated services.

At the Council meeting, Executive Director Christy Zamani, Day One, noted that over 40 nonprofits supported Flintridge’s designation, saying that it was “a testament to the trust, care and true commitment they [Flintridge] have made to us as a community to work on these issues…. I am grateful for them every day for what they bring to the table, to convene us and give us the support we need to work together and move us forward with these issues.”

Photo: Brian Biery