Building Community Connections: Gang Violence

Matching Youths with Summer Opportunities

“…In other words, the focus will be on connecting the youth we work with to real and concrete summer programs.”

On Thursday, Aikido Kenkyukai Santa Barbara will be participating in a Summit called Building Community Connections: Gang Violence – Matching Youths with Summer Opportunities. The summit is organized by the Nonprofit Support Center and is being held at the Goleta Valley Community Center. The group consists of representatives from local nonprofit organizations dedicated to reducing violence in Santa Barbara. Aikido Kenkyukai is one of those groups.

From the Nonprofit Support Center:

“Dear Gang/Youth Violence BCC (Building Community Connections) Participants,

As you know, we [are] planning a BCC Summit for this Thursday morning…, with a 90-minute Gang / Youth violence session focused on matching the youth we work with to summer opportunities.

During this session, each organization will have a chance to talk about what programs they are offering this summer that youth … can participate in. At the same time, those organizations that work with at-risk youth can talk about how many youth they need to place in summer activities.

A final step will be to identify how much scholarship support would be needed to cover the costs associated with youth participating in these opportunities.

In other words, the focus will be on connecting the youth we work with to real and concrete summer programs AND identifying how we can make sure funds are available to pay for their involvement.

To get involved or to sponsor a youth, please call 805-870-5437.