The goal is to help youth in Hartford stay away from violence.
As part of that effort, state and local leaders recently celebrated the opening of the COMPASS Youth Collaborative Center in Hartford as part of the organization’s expanding efforts to combat community violence and crime at its roots.
The center will help to connect disengaged youth who are at-risk, victims or perpetrators of violence to GED and trade school training and teach job readiness skills through the COMPASS Transitional Employment Program.
Jacquelyn Santiago Nazario, the chief executive officer of COMPASS, said that 89% of the nearly 200 youth involved in the program have lost a family member or close friend to gun violence. She said that oftentimes youth can retreat into gangs to feel protected. COMPASS and its team of on-the-ground Peacebuilders, go on to the streets and sites of violence to connect youth with other options.
“Before anything [these youth] are traumatized. They live in environments where violence is prevalent. They’re facing poverty and a lack of education. And as a result of that, they’re not able to have the appropriate decision-making skills that they should have,” Nazario said. “We are trying to get these kids to the start line.”
According to the 2020 census, 28% of Hartford residents live in poverty, compared to the state poverty rate of 9.7%. In 2021, the city recorded one of its deadliest years in nearly two decades. COMPASS reported that “Victims of violence are 59% more likely to become drivers of violence.”
Diego Lopez, a COMPASS Peacebuilder said that violence is normal in the communities of the youth COMPASS serves. He spoke about the generational trauma, lack of parental support, educational struggles, and extreme poverty that causes many young adults to withdraw. For Lopez, breaking the cycle is key.
“My journey in Hartford has been rough. In the 90s I was involved in gangs and I went to prison and it was very difficult for me to get my life together,” Lopez said. “I’ve done so much bad in my community [and] to turn my life around and come back and try to help and break the cycle of violence, it is a true blessing.”
Lopez and other COMPASS Peacebuilders and social workers said that seeing youth change their mindset and become successful is beyond rewarding.
Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin this week commended the work of COMPASS. He said that discussions of violence and crime within the city need to shift.
“Over the past couple of years, there’s been a lot of conversation about juvenile crimes and youth violence…a lot of that conversation, at least as it’s led by some, focuses on punishment,” Bronin said.
“If you are not addressing the issues that led a young person to crime or to violence, then all you’re doing is deepening their desperation and delaying future crime,” he said. “If you don’t heal, you’re not really helping. If you don’t help somebody address the trauma that led to violence and crime, then you’re really not making anybody safer in the long run.”
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal spoke to COMPASS workers after returning from D.C. where the Senate passed its bipartisan gun control bill. Blumenthal said that the bill will provide millions of dollars in funding to grass-roots violence prevention programs such as COMPASS.
“As proud as I am of the other provisions…the aid for community groups like yours in my view is central to the whole legislation,” Blumenthal said.
“I have talked about you on the floor of the United States Senate and privately to my colleagues all across the Congress. Your work has been instrumental… because it shows we can reach people before they commit violence,” he said. “We can reach people before they commit crimes, before they go down the rabbit holes and into the cycle of violence and wrongdoing.”
