From WXXI news.

This is connections.

I'm Evan Dawson.

Well, our connection this hour was made with a young woman named Jade.

Jade has experienced her share of challenges, but she says, quote, I just didn't want to be stuck where I was at, so I knew what I had to do.

End quote.

Well, she's now 20 years old and a youth advocate leader at the center for youth.

She devotes her time to helping young people like her navigate obstacles.

Some of what she has faced herself.

Kids come up to me, she said.

I actually love it.

I get more appreciation for the work I do when I'm here, knowing that I'm helping kids and the youth.

Jade's story is part of a new restoring, Just Restoring Justice Reengaging Youth initiative at the center for youth.

It's in response to the violence and other issues affecting young people in Rochester.

The goal is to use restorative practices to connect youth back to school, back to their communities.

Hardcover book with young people.

Stories is set to be released in March.

This hour, we talk with initiative organizers and youth leaders about what it takes to break through to other young people who are facing a lot of challenges in their lives.

And I'd like to welcome our guest this hour.

The executive director of the center for Youth is Elaine Spall.

Welcome back to the program.

Hey, now, Evan, nice to see you.

Nice to see you, buddy.

Most of the time we talk to land.

We're talking about 100 different things.

We're focused on the center for youth and this really interesting initiative today.

And next to Elaine is Eli Cotton, who's a program director for the Restoring Justice, reengaging Youth initiative at the center for youth.

Welcome.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you for having me.

Across the table from Eli is not like Murray Field's director of restorative practices and equity at the center for you.

Welcome to you.

Thank you.

And welcome to Amy Sadler, a photographer and a creative producer with Helen and Gertrude.

Thank you for being with us.

Thanks for having me.

So, as a note for our audience in the spirit of elevating youth voices, we did have a young person lined up for the panel today.

They did have to cancel due to illness.

Lots of folks are still in school.

and we hope to welcome them on the program in the future.

We think it's going to be very busy summer, bringing in a lot of youth voices, but we want to make sure that, that, you know, about what's happening here.

And I'm going to ask Elaine to kind of tell us a little bit about the seed for this, the project and how it's got started.

So, Evan, first, let me thank you for getting it right.

always giving that introduction.

and we celebrate our young people and the story you told.

first names only, but that's okay.

We know we heard, that there were about 300 young people kind of missing.

Missing from the district.

Missing?

Just missing.

14 through 19 year old.

Just missing.

And we were approached by a large foundation in town that said, you got to go find those kids.

And that's what we said we would do.

And that's what we've done.

Restoring justice, reengaging Youth was targeting young people for whom the world kind of fell apart.

Now, at some point, even we're going to stop blaming Covid for everything.

But not yet.

I have to tell you, not yet.

We still see the victims of Covid, the young people who were given permission, not to go to school, not to connect, to stay in their rooms, and it's still happening with them risking more mental health challenges, more adult behaviors by young people, which usually doesn't go well.

This project, the Farish Foundation, I'm going to call them out because they were the ones that supported us.

And two other foundations said, go find those kids and make an impact.

And Eli and his team, with Malik and I standing by them, said, we're going to find them.

Then I said to my son Matthew, who may call in, who knows where he is?

I want to make a film.

And he said, you know what?

I'm a filmmaker.

I love moving image.

You got to write a book, mom, this is a book.

This is.

This is the humans of New York for Rochester, restoring justice.

This is a book.

This is something that you have in your house.

And every once in a while, you pick it up and you read it in your reminding yourself that we got to change the narrative about young people.

Now, we all know that some of our young kids, young ones, have behaved in troubling ways.

We know that from car theft to other kinds of behaviors.

we're working on that every day, you see.

You see a decline in that, by the way.

you see some changes in attendance at school.

At one point, 1 in 5 high school kids were not in school.

You kind reconnect.

You know how we feel when people don't like us, Evan.

Well, everybody likes you.

Not everybody likes me.

But I got news for you.

There's plenty of people don't like.

Actually, I think less people like you than me.

Yeah, because I'm pretty.

Well, like.

But but every once in a while, you're.

You're so.

Evan and I adore each other.

So just bear with us.

But you know it.

It's not news to these people in the audience.

But we.

When you disconnect, you're lost.

And when you're 15 and you disconnect, you're really lost.

So that's that's the seeds of this.

And we'll talk more about how it's going to look and how we got all these folks pulled in and and yeah, let me ask you one other question before I turn to your co-panelists.

And this is actually this is not a political question.

This is a how what have we learned in the last five years?

Question.

Yeah.

it was a conversation that Pete Buttigieg was happening with Tim Miller on the Bulwark podcast.

And Tim asked him, you know, I mean, when when you look ahead for a political party that's not winning, it's like, what do we learn?

And most of the time when you ask politicians that you get platitudes.

Yeah.

And the first thing Buttigieg said was, this is not meant to be political.

Okay.

But somehow we had to get the schools open sooner.

Yeah, we were looking at we we gave permission to stop engaging in everything important, everything about we never the centrifuge never closed, by the way.

We never closed for one minute.

We couldn't close.

We ran shelters.

We ran nurseries.

We were we held our own program.

Because what you view your work as is vital to the life.

Vital, right?

Vital.

You have to.

And when we couldn't connect.

And I'll just say a little, a little.

P.S.

A lot of our, young women in our Safe Harbor Trafficking Program anti-trafficking program, we were scared to death that they were staying in places that were unsafe because their counselors were the ones identifying behaviors that they knew.

We gave people permission to isolate.

That is deadly to young people.

It's deadly.

We are social animals.

It can be deadly to young people who are doing really well, to say nothing of people who are really not doing it.

And we're hearing it from parents across this community.

You know, we have at this center, we are in every school in Greece, every school in Penfield.

Every school needs to run to every school in the city, every school in Hilton.

We're everywhere.

And we're hearing it in Mount Morris where I don't even know where that is.

We're hearing it in Genesee.

I know where that is.

Letchworth, I think I know these are this is a myth that's happening across this community, across this country, not just in the inner city.

In the city.

We have a density.

So the violence is different and the crowding is different, and the intensity of poverty looks differently.

We gave people permission to isolate.

And people like you and me, like I am basically a social butterfly.

You know, I was stuck at home, I snuck into work, but it was really hard.

And think about being 15 and not being with your friends.

So if this effort is successful, what happens in this community?

I think we see more young people stepping up.

We change the narrative and we start calling them youth at promise, not youth at risk.

It got us.

Words matter, Evan, you know you're a journalist.

Words matter.

Youth at promise.

You say something to a young person.

I believe in you.

You see them change.

Eli, I can tell you now.

Like I can tell you.

Amy's had the experience of taking their photos.

And the way they respond to her.

It's really remarkable how little you.

I'm going to cry right now because it's remarkable how little you have to do to make an impact on a young person's life.

I say small talk, big difference.

And, you know, and you know, who knows what Pete Buttigieg his future is.

But he's right.

We made some big mistakes.

So let me ask your co-panelists about this.

And Eli Cotton, let me start with you here.

Eli's program director for the Restoring Justice Reengaging Youth Initiative at the center for youth.

The what, 300?

You mentioned 300 people roughly right there.

We identified the district just in the city of Rochester, about three, 299 kids that they were sort of searching for.

So to the extent that we are getting to know more of these stories, what are the common threads that you're seeing among those two 300 kids?

Eli, just lack of guidance.

we want to make sure that we provide our young people with guidance.

One of our biggest, missions is you can do more of you use less, which stands for listen, educate and support.

So listening to a young person, what are their needs?

What are some of the resources that they want to seek out?

educate them.

After we've heard what their needs are, how do we educate them and then also support them?

We don't want to, you know, make that choice further.

We want to provide choices for them.

So most of the time, young people you know, they're they're going day to day without having any resources.

They don't want to go to school.

Why?

What is the what is the cause for you not wanting to go to school?

Housing situation.

How can we make sure we put you in stability?

Some stable housing, food insecurity.

What are some of the needs that you and your family may, have?

How can we support you?

So it's more than just what most people think.

We want to make sure we get down to the root cause.

Okay.

And when it comes to how to get to that root cause, how to get through to people, and that's what this is all about.

Absolutely.

How do you do it?

How do you how do you establish credibility to do it?

How do you reach people?

Well, we want to create a, comprehensive growth and development plan.

So we want to make sure that we assessed every kid that comes through our doors and be able to create a plan that they can understand, and that we can support them in the best way we can.

You know, it might even be us going out into the community to connect with community partners to to be able to say, hey, this program is for them.

But while they're in your program, we're also going to support them.

Do they believe in your program?

Do they buy it?

Do they want to do it?

Honestly, yes.

Through the trust and the connections that we make each and every day with them.

So some days you might have a kid that comes in and, you know, thank God that we took over the YMCA to all YMCA on Monroe Avenue, where we have a basketball gym in there.

So sometimes it just takes us going into the basketball jump, shooting a few buckets.

What I'm and, you know, talking and laughing or maybe even just going on a walk to create a pizza right across the street and just grabbing something to eat.

That's where the connection starts.

That's what a trust begins.

Okay.

And how do you how do you assess how it's working right now?

Great.

Right now it's it's perfect.

You know, we're growing this program just started sometime last year in January.

And as of right now, honestly, seeing a tremendous turnaround with some of the youth that's even in some of the boys groups and girls groups that we support.

So when you when you use the word turnaround.

Tell me about what.

Without naming any specific names and protect people's privacy.

But what life may have been like for the last several years and what a turnaround functionally is changing what life is like now.

Well, I'll just start with our schools.

we have a lot of young people who do not go to school at all.

Yeah.

So with that being said, when this program started, we had a lot of people who were missing school being involved in this program.

We've seen a turnaround with attendance, grades, progress reports, even passing Regents exams that they were once failing.

So through our recipes programing, we were able to have tutors come in to talk to these young people, but make sure that they stick with it.

That's our job, is to make sure that we're the glue to their life.

I mean, I imagine you, like someone is going to be willing to kind of get back in the classroom and pursue better grades or pass and tests if they believe that there is a future that gives a damn about them.

Absolutely.

And if they believe that there is an adult life in their future that they would look forward to as opposed to feeling like nothing matters.

That that's a really hard thing to do to convince somebody who has grown up and grown into their teen years still developing to a point.

But convinced that nobody cares about me.

The world doesn't care about me and government doesn't care about me.

The city doesn't like.

That's a hard thing.

You're seeing that change.

Absolutely.

With the staff that I have, we have boots on the ground and we're out there.

You know, we're changing lives each and every day.

You know, we want to listen to our young people.

That's all they just want somebody to listen to them.

And how are you going to help me?

They want to see help right now.

Not.

I'm going to help you.

Ten weeks from now.

Know they want to help today.

And so, Elaine, for years, you know, I want to get your take on this, too, because, you know, you've got this heart the size of Texas, but you can't sit, can't solve every problem.

But how much do you want to just, like, find a way to convince people like, I love you and I care about you.

You matter to me.

Yeah.

And, you know, so we have example after example after example of young people who come into the center, hoodie and glasses on, mask on, who barely verbal who.

Then over time to restorative work meeting, trusting Eli and his team know that they may be the only person in the world who is nice to that kid.

And that includes school and home.

That's not nice to say that, but it is true.

They can't waste time, kind of go through some protocol.

They got to make it real immediately, and that's what they do.

Eli and his team are real.

They're, as he said, boots on the ground.

They go wherever they need to go, whether it's a rec center, whether it's on the street, whether it's in court, we're going to be where those kids are.

If I said to a young person, I think I've told you before, I was working on a film project actually years ago.

And I said to this kid, I can't wait to see you tomorrow.

And he said, no one has ever said that to me in my life.

No one.

Not a family member, not a teacher.

We assume because of the way we parent and the way you parent.

Reese.

And I'm not allowed to say you're a child, but anyway, and maybe others some time.

But anyway.

So, you know, how you parents, you assume everybody's got that?

They don't.

And we don't blame him.

We don't blame parents, by the way, parents do the best they can in the moment.

We have.

Let's say we have, March Madness event at the center, right at the 797 Bridge to Peace.

Hundreds of people come.

Parents come.

Grandparents come.

Little ones come.

People want to be engaged.

We are having a Juneteenth party.

People will come.

You can come.

I mean, it is amazing.

People.

Oh, you know, families don't care.

Yes they do.

Yes they do.

Make it.

Make it welcoming.

Make it loving, make it kind.

Just start with kindness.

And I'm seeing changes in young people getting jobs, going to college.

remembering that when you do something that's harmful to somebody, there is a victim, whether it's a car theft or something else.

There is a victim, and I don't want to do that anymore.

People have said, I don't want to do that anymore.

And, you know, we're giving people a reason to be better and to be their best selves.

And that's what this program is doing.

And we have deep gratitude to Farish and others who believed in us and who gave us massive, trust from the very beginning.

you know, now, again, I've been at this a long time, and I'm certainly she's got a lot to share.

She has seen young people transform before our eyes.

You mentioned Ferris.

You're getting support in different ways.

Anything going on in Washington affect your budget?

Of course.

Every month.

I don't know the answer to this question.

I'm getting up something I know.

No, no, no.

I make it very, very quick.

So every month, every federal grant, HUD and HHS have to tell somebody, I guess Elon Musk, although he's going back to work somewhere else.

What we spend our money on that month, we have to sign documents promising not to spend money and gender affirming care, and I work.

We have found ways to bifurcate our programs so that we have some places that are not funded by federal dollars, local dollars, foundation dollars that keep us going when we are under attack and assault for some of those other dollars.

So we have not skipped a beat, but it's meant lots of paperwork and lots of, sleepless nights really worrying about.

And we worry about the future.

We're waiting for some of our grants to come back.

We don't know if they will.

Right now.

We're okay, right now.

We're okay right now.

That could amount to what kind of numbers are, oh, $5 million.

$5 million?

Yeah, you'll find out.

One where we're waiting for two RFP to come out.

and I talked to Joe Marley's office every week.

God bless Joe and his team.

late, late spring, early summer.

I'm going to say that's like, now, but we haven't heard yet.

So we're talking to the team from the center for youth about this new program.

And Elaine Spall, executive director of the center, Eli Cotton, program director for the Restoring Justice, reengaging Youth Initiative.

And let me turn to Nyla Marie fields, who's director of restorative practices and equity at the center for youth.

What are you saying?

Do you agree with Eli that you know that there is progress being made already with these several hundred kids who maybe need it the most in this city?

Absolutely.

I have been with the center for 21 years, and in that time I've had the opportunity to be part of School-Based teams, our teen court program.

The center's different community initiatives that we've done.

And what I have seen is that these kids, yes, are in schools, but they're all over.

Too many of them are not engaging in school.

And when we talked about reengaging teens and, restorative justice, that was the glow, the restorative peace in that, not that kids are broken.

We're not saying that we're not trying to restore them, but we're taking a different approach, a holistic approach, creating credible messengers to support young people, to support them and direct them, transition them to services.

People say Rochester is a resource rich community, but it's not because our kids are not engaging them.

They're not experiencing people who will guide them along.

What restoring justice, Reengaging Teens does.

It's that person to help that young person and their family through these systems.

If I'm in the juvenile justice system, chances are I'm not in school.

So who's going to help navigate that?

Like, yay, I'm no longer or I'm somewhere in the process of going through the juvenile justice system, but how do I get into school?

Chances are, of damaged relationships at home, so maybe housing is an issue for me, but it can be an issue for my entire family.

That's why I was engaging in some of these negative behaviors.

So who's going to help support that.

And then you have young people and families who are just going through system after system after system.

They are fatigued.

They are fatigued, and they need support someone to help them through these siloed systems.

And that's what this program does.

And what I also think is my favorite part of this program is the dream.

If you've ever had a child who wanted to play a sport, to participate in a program, to have some experience, when I'm deciding through basic needs food, shelter, child care, those kinds of things, clothing I don't have money necessary for dreams.

And what this program does is it allows young people and their families to have dreams.

And sometimes within a family with multiple siblings, you need that one child.

Maybe that's the child we're working with to show everyone else something different, including their parents.

So the adults in their life.

So that's my passion for this, because these kids are all over everywhere and we're in the community trying to engage them, find them and support them, certainly for years and years before the pandemic.

Attendance has been a problem with the Ccsd.

A lot of people have worked on it.

It's very hard problem to solve, I grant that.

How much do you think the pandemic exacerbated that or the Covid school closure decisions?

Oh, extremely.

Extremely, because you have young people who are loosely connected, even less connected.

And also the pressure on the home, because you think about, I don't know if you have kids home for the summer or over breaks, they eat more, they use more electricity.

Everything is just so much more.

And you have families that are already stress, right?

Some of them, I mean, if you have great job and you have paid time off in alternatives to work, but some of these jobs are still clock in jobs, like I have to go and punch in to get a paycheck.

And with closures and less of that in the family, it's just more stress.

And what happens is you have young people who are like, you know what, I got to make a different decision.

I'm going to be out of my home.

Maybe I want to make money to help support the family because I'm seeing it.

And they were making not good decisions.

They were no denying that they were making not good decisions, and they got caught up in some stuff.

Right.

But you always have to ask, what is the root cause?

What is the why?

So then saying, hey, go back to school, I don't know anyone.

I don't know what this is going to be like.

I've kind of created this alternative life that's beneficial to my immediate family.

At the age of 15, 15, 14.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

We started an entire program, our, through the support of ESL or in School Workforce program for that, because during the pandemic, we saw more than ever, 14 and 15 year olds saying, I need work, I need money for real stuff, for food, clothing, any of their needs.

Because 14 and 15 year olds can be expensive.

They like adult things, but so have adult incomes.

So how do they get that?

How families can support that.

Right?

So they're now trying to support themselves.

So it was like after Covid, we had to kind of come with a barrage of services to help support our young people.

We're finding jobs and engaging 14, 15, 16 year olds in a different way than we ever had before, because the need is there.

And what we've found since we've had we now we have to in school workforce programs is that we're helping young people develop themselves, which means that they have income, they have pride.

At the end of every summer, we employ our young people, taking them off the streets.

We'll have 60 young people this summer just in our building alone, wearing, playing them.

We're helping support them resumes.

We're doing social emotional supports.

We're working with that whole child over these six weeks.

And at the end of it, they're going to walk away with some money, which helps support them not for iPhones, but for clothing, school clothing for September.

So do we help get them back to school?

Absolutely.

Through a full supportive services.

How's our CSD view this work?

I think they love us so welcoming.

We engage them all the time.

They love.

It's a good relationship.

Yeah, I had a chance.

I've spent some time with Doctor Rosser, you know, trying to welcome him.

I still haven't met him.

Okay.

Yeah.

Oh, I can introduce you.

Like he'll be here soon and I'm sure he'll be here soon.

July 1st official.

He's a good guy, and he's, you know, he's coming in facing, some real chat.

A lot of turnover in senior staff as well.

you know, one of the things that we, we love to, to watch particular kids and I want to just talk a little bit about not by name, but by kids who dream, you know, when a young person goes through the program, gets a job, is connected, is in school and has a chance to get a driver's license, which we all take for granted, or get a car, or have a job or end up going to college.

It is magnificent.

And it's happening.

It's happening all around us.

we have some, disappointments.

You know, we have some kids that we love and they come and they come, and then they sort of go away.

And then we just think they're going to come back.

We try to find them.

Something happens that makes a kid not engage.

Probably not about us, but something else.

we're not judgmental, but we're pretty clear about consequences to we hold kids accountable.

You can't.

You can't mess up.

If you're going to be working for us and you don't show up, it's not okay.

So people think I'm a softy.

I am the most permissive guy.

you can know.

It's true.

It's absolutely true.

And I'm proud of it.

Bobo, if you're listening, he's seven.

He should be in school.

I dropped him off this morning, but you know it's true.

But I'm not a softie with our kids.

You want that structure?

Yeah, you gotta have structure.

And when you give a young person structure, that means you care about them.

It's not like I says, where were you?

We missed you.

We wanted you to be here.

That means that somebody noticed they were missing.

Big deal.

Very big deal.

So let me just ask you one follow up, and then I want to ask Amy about her role here.

how do you split the difference, Elaine, between understanding that there are kids who have gone gone through things that your grandchildren, your children, my kids will never experience.

I.

And understanding that when you're a four year.

I used to feel this way when I was, I was a reporter for 13 Women News and it would cover a lot of the Hall of Justice.

and I'd see a lot of kids three, 4 or 5 years old with these kind of blank looks, long gazes, like, why am I here?

Like, what's going on?

And maybe it was a parent who was in a courtroom, and I would hear the way people would judge the parents, you know, like the things that people say about someone who ends up in court.

And then I would look at the kids and go, like, what does your future look like?

And how are you going to be judged when you're 15 or 17 or 21?

And at the same time, you want to create a structure of accountability that says, you are 15, you're going through a lot of change.

You've been through a lot of stuff.

And most stuff is not your fault.

However, we're going to create accountability that still demands certain things.

How do you split that difference with compassion that says, you know, people are often the product of a lot of difficult circumstances.

However, we need them to be accountable and to hold to certain standards.

I think we try to, diminish the risk and raise up the rewards.

I think we help them understand that the behaviors that have consequences also then leave them without the rewards we want for them.

So so push down risks, lift up rewards.

That works for everybody, including husbands and other people.

I'm sure you don't have to worry about that, but you risk push down the risk, take away the wrath, and lift up the rewards.

And the rewards may be kindness.

It may be food.

It may be a small paycheck.

It may be taking a photo of somebody.

Take the risk away.

Help remove those barriers of risk.

You look at a kid and you say, what is it that's stopping them from being their best self?

And you work on those things and you get rid of those things because you believe they're a promise.

They're not at risk.

And if you focus on the risks, you're going to see some really bad stuff.

Push that down, push that away.

Don't think about that.

See that child and lift them up and make rewards of all kinds of things, including cash.

Sometimes, by the way, we pay kids to work.

Yeah, and they come and they act.

But guess what?

You don't come that day.

You're not going to get 120 days, but you're going to get 60.

And we're going to let you know it feels bad not to have that check now, because a tyrant, she is not going to pay someone who doesn't show up.

I probably would like, you know, give them something.

But so that's standard manners.

I don't know if that makes it goes to you, but look at our own children.

What are their risks?

Where are they at risk?

Push it down.

Eliminate the risks.

Eliminate the barriers.

Raise up the rewards.

I thought of you recently when I heard someone use a phrase I'd never heard before, but it kind of seems to fit in what you're saying.

Which is, I'm going to push you hard, and I'm going to react hard when you're not where you are.

But I will love you harder.

Yeah.

I'm going to push you hard.

Yeah.

And I'm always going to love you even harder.

Yeah.

I mean, Eli is the most compassionate.

Eli.

He's been with us since he was basically his own child, 21 years old.

He's 30 now.

He's so fabulous.

Well, you can see him because now we're on YouTube and and he represents to me, the kind of leadership that has compassion and also some, some hard realities as well.

now that also now he has three sons of her own, one of them graduating this year, going off to college.

That's the right thing for him to do, honey.

She said.

But, but so she's raised three young men of color, and she knows the messages and what you have to do.

so, you know, I want to I want you to know that we're not perfect.

I, you know, one time, one time you said to me, I'm waiting for you to mess up.

Do you remember that?

No, because I did say that.

I would never say that.

But I think you said.

Because every time you come on, you're talking about, like, such great things.

And you were such a good politician.

You're.

This is.

There is.

I would never call anybody a good politician.

You're making that up.

But I think I would.

I probably would have said is that you are extremely aspirational.

Yes.

And what you want to accomplish.

And you set really big goals.

Yeah.

Like this book.

Holy cow.

Like.

Yeah.

What?

Who writes a book and tries to run an agency?

This is crazy.

Well, and but we're doing it.

But also reaching 300.

Yeah.

Of the kids who need it the most, who it would be so easy for society just to pretend that they don't even exist anymore.

Yeah.

And that's almost what they expect of society.

Yeah.

So, so we're late for a break.

We're going to talk to Amy Sadler on the other side about her role as a photographer and creative producer at Helen and Gertrude.

And we're going to talk about this book, and I want to hear from now, can Eli, too, about this idea of pushing someone hard and loving them harder and, and, you know, how do you do that, whether it's your sons or it's kids at the center or anyone you encounter?

We're talking about with the center for youth is doing with the Restoring Justice Reengaging Youth initiative, and we'll come right back on connections.

Coming up in our second hour, we're joined by RJ and some of its leadership, talking about a recent independent audit that's gotten a lot of attention.

The audit was pretty scathing about RJ, Annie and Nyseg about how it handles customer service ratepayers, what it incentivizes and what it doesn't.

But our genie says a lot of the context is missing, and they've been working to make a lot of positive changes, and they want to talk about that next hour.

You know how that.

How they do it if you want to part it's An Evening with Leonard Cohen, recorded live in Dublin tonight at eight on ITV today.

This is connections.

I'm Evan Dawson and I want to bring in Amy Sadler, a photographer and creative producer.

And I'm, I'm looking at, some of the pages.

I think they're already done for the book here.

Some of the stories here, a couple of them.

but, what's your role here, Amy.

Yeah.

So I was brought into this project through a conversation with Matt Spall, who was kind of the brainchild of the book.

And that conversation was sparked by talking about what we love about capturing people and human stories.

So that being photography for me, I have loved portraiture since I first went to our team.

that's my background for advertising photography, but, portraiture as a whole is all about human connection.

So hearing these stories of what's so important about getting to know people and understanding stories, it is about that 1 to 1.

Yes.

There was a camera in between us, but I'm able to have a conversation with them.

I'm able to give them a moment where they feel seen.

So even talking about giving a damn, making someone feel like there is someone else out there who gives a damn enough to sit down with them and take their picture and beyond that, this book is meant to be a moment for each of these youth.

To feel seen, to feel represented accurately.

So I'm not telling them to be a certain way.

I'm not telling them how to pose.

It's making sure they get to know me.

They're comfortable and this is their moment.

It's whatever they want it to be.

Highlighting you know, jewelry that's meaningful to them, highlighting a sport.

So there's a lot of the boys who are into basketball, as Eli knows.

So it's it's meant to be a foundation where you can see them for who they are, the people that's behind.

When we talk about youth, who are they?

and not necessarily just rooted in their knee.

It's it's a moment for them.

And this book is the goal is to transcend, the big picture and actually get into the weeds of who they are and the work that the center is doing.

So that expands past the youth themselves.

I've also done portraits of the staff and the youth leaders, hopefully coming to Juneteenth to kind of capture some of these moments that show what the center is all about.

because that's what this book is, is for restoring justice.

But we want it to have a long shelf life.

It should be meaningful for forever.

And honestly, I'm a I'm a little blip on the map of the center and I'm honored to be a part of this project and get kind of into the weeds with you all and be surrounded by such passionate people.

but my role is very small, and it's kind of meant to be.

I'm there to capture, I'm there to document, and kind of step aside so that, you know, the beauty and the work is what gets highlighted.

I think part of what you're describing is when kids finally actually feel seen and feel like, wow, like, I mean, like someone is noticing me.

Someone's taking the time to actually try to create something cool about me.

And as a, as a youth sports coach myself, one thing I have not liked in the culture that I'm getting a little bit more ambivalent about.

I used to be very negative.

I'm still pretty negative.

There's a lot of these kids will put out, or sometimes parents will put out these sizzle reels of these kids age nine, ten, 11, set to music in their back flipping, and they're taunting people.

And I'm like, what are we doing?

But I had a conversation recently with someone who said, look, sometimes kids are making that themselves because no one else is noticing them.

No one sees them.

This is their chance to finally use tech to feel a little bit seen.

So when you talk about basketball, I mean, like kids, you know, kids have different outlets, but if they never feel seen, like, don't be surprised when they, they want to be a little brash and you're probably doing something amazing for them.

Absolutely.

And social media as a whole is definitely.

And having, you know, cameras on our phones, everywhere we go there, they're everywhere.

and it's not the same as having a photographer who's there for you to capture you one on one.

I think that it transcends what they're after, even on social media, which is a persona.

And what I'm after is who are you really?

Oh, that's a whole other hour.

That's really good.

That's really good.

I mean, we social media is a performance.

It is a persona.

Yes.

it is a carefully curated set of ideas about who you want the world to think that you are for different reasons.

I'm guilty of it, too.

I mean, I'm guilty the wrong word.

I mean, like, it's just what it is.

That's what those platforms are.

But there's a difference between what are you performing and who are you?

Yeah, yeah.

Which, you know, I think that's the beauty of what Elon has described.

I've been really fortunate to have them open up to me.

They've been very comfortable and kind of the confidence that blooms by just saying, hey, there's this photographer, she's literally here for you.

And we get to have fun.

You know, I'm running around with them in the gym, essentially, like they're shooting balls around me.

I get hit with basketballs and it's fine.

We're just making sure it feels casual and fun and playful.

It's a moment to kind of get out of their daily lives as well.

and be a kid, honestly, be a kid who who matters?

Well, but boy, that is absolutely its own conversation.

But, Elaine, for these kids, what are you so I so let me just say a word about Amy.

We pull Matthew who might call in or not, who knows where he is?

who really had this idea?

It was really his.

His idea.

He got really annoyed because Amy was doing the photographs and he was doing the interviews, and they lined up for Amy.

They couldn't wait.

They they were just so excited.

He was having like monosyllabic.

Yeah.

No.

He's like, okay, I can't interview these guys.

The stories we're going to get the stories because they start to tell their own stories.

And Eli is going to help me and Alec as well.

And the whole staff, they wanted to be seen.

Amy, Amy came in.

I mean, I didn't know Amy before this project.

I had heard her name, kind of she walked in, you know, from an ad agency with her camera and immediately became one of us.

And that is, I think, the beauty of the center for youth also, that we are just belonging and Amy has been able to spend it's her own time, donated time from her company, has offered her time to do this.

It's a big deal and most people are transaction.

I'm going to cry again.

Our transaction.

What's in it for me?

What it is that Amy never asked?

you know, am I going to get a credit for this?

Am I going to get her?

How much is.

You know, I need to pay for film.

She's not ask for anything, and she's getting her own time.

that's what the world needs.

They need more Amy Sadler's.

They need more knowledge.

And Eli's.

They need more Evan Dawson's.

They certainly need more Meg and Max.

But I'm just saying that we are surrounded by a spirit of generosity.

Despite the despair.

We have a lot of despair.

We lose kids.

I mean, our kids die in the streets.

We've lost another kid last year, or they're shot on the streets and we're trying to put an elevator in our building so our kids in wheelchairs can come up and be with us.

We have a lot of despair.

The world is not always rosy.

Sometimes I come and I'm all aspiration.

We have sadness, because we have losses as well.

But we will not give up.

We will not give up.

And if you have an Amy Sadler by your side and Evan Dawson and these guys, we're not going to give up.

But it's not easy, buddy.

It's not.

We're making it sound.

No, I mean, that's why we're making it sound easier than it is.

No, I mean, there's going to be a lot of heartbreak, I'm sure.

A lot of heartbreak.

And heartbreak.

Eli, you're 30 now.

Yes.

Everything's different after 30 minute.

Really?

40 though.

30s are just like your 20s.

Except for your more wise 40s is where you're like, whoa.

slow down everything.

how old were you when you felt like you could talk about these hard things in the way that you're doing now because you're 30 years old, you are able to talk to people about really challenging things.

You're able to recognize how to give someone space to open up and not press them and not make them feel interrogated, but just able to express themselves.

That is not something that we, you know, we come right out of the womb with.

That takes time.

Yeah.

Were you like that as a teenager?

no.

No, not at all.

I think I was just in high school.

I was definitely one of the ones that spoke life into somebody.

So when I graduated high school, I wanted to become what I needed growing up to these young people, which is what a mentor, a big brother sometimes, or even a dad sometimes.

You are you just whatever.

Sometimes you're their hero.

Just somebody to talk to.

Did you have that growing up?

I had a few mentors.

Absolutely.

I didn't always listen.

but, I mean, who was at 14, 15 or 16, you know, you think you know everything, and, thank God that they, they stuck around and, you know, they they definitely seen potential in me.

So now I'm able to give that back to the youth.

When you think about a 14, 15, 16 year old who doesn't have that, what's what's the difference in that fork in the road in their lives where, you know, you see it, but what's going to intervene and convince them that they can invest and that they can be open and trusting of that mentor?

Because without that, I mean, there's a just talked about some of the really awful things, I mean, the heartbreak that can happen in the city, how you how do you get a 14, 15, 16 year old who's never had a mentor?

just say, all right, Eli's it or whoever.

Is it like that, Lane?

Is it like the center for youth?

Is it consistency?

and the reason why I say consistency is because we started a boys group.

it was like a branch off of the RJ program, and we wanted to definitely dial in on some of the youth who needed more wraparound services.

So September of last year, we created a boys group, and I had a chance to be in the room with these boys each and every week on Thursdays from 4 to 6, and hear some of the things that they needed.

Now, in the process of that, we wanted to kind of do like a, end of the year type of graduation from boys group, and we're going to be taking our group of boys to DC this year.

So giving them more exposure opportunities on top of that, when they come back, it'll be more consistency with the summer program.

And that's how you begin to turn the world a little bit different.

Well I want to ask now about a little bit about this idea of, you know, making sure kids know that that structure that Elaine wants them to have those standards that are going to be tough.

are there because you love them and kids at all ages, no matter their circumstances, sometimes don't want to follow the rules.

They don't want to show up on time.

They don't want accountability.

how important is that to have that balance of love and that tough structure, that toughness that they need.

So to answer this question, I feel like I kind of have to talk a little bit about the beginning or origins of our Bridge to Peace program.

That's at 797 Monroe Avenue.

I was transferred down there because I used to be at 905, but one of the first, or I should say two of the first people we employed were youth leaders, not other adults, not any other programs.

But we hired young people because we invest in them and we invest in them heavily.

They're the ones who named a bridge to peace.

And with that, giving them responsibility.

Respect.

I refer to our youth leaders as our coworkers.

They are when we have holiday celebrations, holiday bonuses, they're there with us.

But with that, we treat them as coworkers.

And what I have seen over the years, and it's just not one example.

It's multiple examples.

We take kids who, you know, making questionable decisions and we say, hey, come on, work with us.

They're here.

They're in the environment.

They have purpose because they're working with other young people, and they're working with you as a colleague side by side, doing the hard work the every day, supporting other young people.

And we would be doing them a disservice if we didn't support them as well.

How can we have a program and say, hey, you have to be on time, you have to do this, you have to do that.

We need you to do these things for yourselves.

And I support our own young people, so we hire them.

And what we have seen is you'll have a young person, they'll start off maybe 13 hours a week, and they are in by the summertime, 24 hours a week.

We have seen them where they have graduated and they have that kind of lost kind of moment.

I don't know what I want to do next, but I kind of like this.

And they work 20 hours as our bridge to piece youth leader.

And then we're restoring justice came by.

They're like, no, I want to do that.

That's a high level of engagement.

We have 18, 19, 20, 21 year olds.

Were it.

We're introducing them to the work that we do, human services.

And from there they branch off.

So you'll have a young person that we are employing full time with benefits.

They're our colleague.

And then we're moving them into full time positions with us in other departments or in the community.

In my mind, that's investment.

We're saying, hey, we believe in you.

It doesn't matter what happened before you came to us, but we see your potential and we get them there.

And it's okay because we say we love them and they leave us.

That's okay.

That's what you want to do.

This good parenting, right?

You love them and you let them go.

Even those are a little hard for me this year, but I love them and let them go.

And that's what we do with our young people and those who go from you say 13 hours, wake up to 24 and they're making that jump.

What percentage would you say actually kind of go on that path where they're they're taking that that training, that structure, that work, and they, they want to keep moving up.

So I'll tell you right now we employ 13 young people as youth leaders that work with us currently.

of that, I'll tell you how it's even bigger than just employing them here at the center.

All of our youth leaders are graduating.

All of them.

That is when you compare it across the board and they're from different districts.

They're all graduating with a plan that is significant.

So I would say 100% of our kids have direction when they're done with us.

They really know this is what I want to do.

This is where I want to go, and we'll help support them get there.

So I'm going to trade some work and human services.

Some go off to college, some go to them.

We actually have one going off to the military this year.

So our kids are successful.

They're growing it and they're investing in it.

The trade seems like a pretty wise place to for kids to end up.

We've been doing a whole lot more.

Ellen was at an event last night and we were doing a whole AVP supply and those guys, Gary Kerwin is a good dude and they're trying very hard to he's trying to encourage other manufacturing and other kinds of trade to take a risk on a young person to give them a chance.

And we're going to work with them on that, because when we send a young person into a place, to be employed, we're going to go with them.

We're going to make sure they're doing what they need to do.

We have wraparound.

We're not going to send a kid off.

We don't really believe in warm handshakes.

We appreciate other people saying that we'd like to keep our hands around our kids especially.

We kid in a positive way with a hand on their back all the time.

We got their back.

We don't send people and now I can.

I have places we don't like our kids to work because we know they pay well, but it's not productive.

I'm not going to name names like Amazon, but I'm just saying, no, I mean, I know it's important work and you all want your packages overnight, but it's not, it's not the best productive place for a young person late at night.

You know, we're not.

But we believe that given the right information and the right support and the right structure and the right love, things can change for young people.

And it takes.

It's a village.

The center of youth is a village.

We love each other.

We're in it together.

again, we're not perfect.

Sometimes we we have oopses, and sometimes we make mistakes ourselves.

But, I, I am, you know, I should be retired.

You know, we're not talking about my age, but I can't let these people go.

I just love them all so much.

And it matters not that I matter, but the work matters.

And having someone like Amy and Matthew, if you're listening, you know, just be by our side and guide us.

And one part the book is.

So let me just say something about coming out.

Yeah, it's a really big, hard project, by the way.

It's not so simple.

My my ideas.

Oh, and then I start to hear about production values and you know, how many pages and who's going to write the narrative and who's going to do the line editing.

And should it be hard cover up?

I'm like, oh my gosh.

So it's a like it's a full time project for someone who's not doing anything else.

And we're doing a lot of other things.

So, it's going to take a while.

It's taken us a while.

We're looking at March of 26. we've been talking to our press and some other folks to try to help us, but, you know, we're going to pull this off and we're going to give you a cap.

I'm going to give you a copy.

I'm going to have some of the kids sign a copy for you.

you have stood by the center.

and we we are in a sacred space.

There's no question about it.

Eli and I, like Amy and I.

We're in a sacred space, and, we're grateful for that space.

Eli, briefly.

What do you even think about the trades for a future for some of these kids, trades are important.

I do a trade school, visit every month with the young people, get them exposed to the.

Why not?

You know, I know that I can't go an hour without saying, like, oh, boy, is the world really changing with AI?

but I'm worried about jobs.

I'm worried about the future of employment opportunity.

I'm worried about, a lot of different fields.

White collar, blue collar, everything being affected by this.

we're still a ways away from your plumber being replaced, so.

Yeah, you know, you know, if you're if you're in marketing, it's tough.

I mean, it's going to be really hard.

Yeah.

if you're in law, if you're in a lot of different things.

but trades may be the last to get replaced.

Yeah.

Eventually everything will get replaced.

Right?

That's right.

I'm not going to be cynical, but I think.

No, I think that's smart.

I think the idea of giving kids, exposure to a lot of different things and basically saying doesn't have to be this, but guess what?

There are different paths that you could be on.

Yeah, and they are productive and there is a future and you can be excited about that.

Absolutely.

That is so powerful.

That is really, really.

And they pay well.

And yeah these jobs pay well.

So whether it's I Tapper I don't know what's called.

Is that what it's called I talk I call them tap yum tap or something.

I mean I, you know, I don't I know a lot of these things that they know more, they have opportunities and they need our kids and they're willing to take a chance because we're going to come with them and, you know, sort of shoulder with them.

And it makes a difference.

Well, I want to thank all of you for coming.

And I really want to say to to now you got one going off to college, I do.

Why would you let them do that?

Well, because he doesn't want to lay in the couch and watch TV.

All right.

Amazing.

What's what's the opportunity otherwise you're willing to let go.

Oh man.

That's that's tough.

But I wish your family well.

And I just want to say, you know, for for the future meeting, if any of these kids want to tell their stories.

Yeah, they will be welcome.

Yeah, I know it can be tough.

And I know that there's a thin line between exploitation and really education.

But that's also I know what Amy Sadler does.

Well, I mean, like, it's not easy work, but we want to keep hearing their voices and telling their stories.

And you've heard it this hour from the center for Youth Alliance.

Paul, the executive director of the center for youth, lovely to see you.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Eli Cotton, program director for the Restoring Justice Reengaging Youth Initiative.

Thank you for telling your story this hour.

No problem.

Now look at Murrayfield director of restorative Practices and Equity at the center for you.

Thank you very much for being here.

Thank you.

And Amy Sadler, photographer, creative producer with Helen and Gertrude.

Great work on this.

We look forward to seeing more.

Thanks for having me.

We'd like to come back and bring our kids.

Or do it.

Bring the kids.

Okay.

More more connections.

More connections coming up.

And just to say, are you going to host it?

No, I'm the host.

Okay.

Yeah.

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