Charlotte’s anti-violence team started with baby steps. In 2023, see them soar.
For the past year, the Alternatives to Violence team has taken community work to the ground level on Beatties Ford Road, but in 2023 they’re looking to soar.
Charlotte’s Alternatives to Violence program started in August 2021 to curb violence in the troubled corridor. The team works Tuesdays through Fridays, and are on call to respond to shootings along Beatties Ford Road.
The most memorable work is the person-to-person interaction with the youth, Juan Hall, an outreach worker with the ATV team, said. Watching the light flicker in a child’s eyes when he’s helping them pushes him to continue his community work.
“The people do more for me than I could ever do for them,” Hall said.
Since February, the team has held community events like its back-to-school drive in August, where over 200 kids were given backpacks, hand sanitizer and other school supplies. In December, the team put up its tree of hope on Beatties Ford Road. Community members were invited to decorate the tree with ornaments to remember loved ones lost to violence.
The experience has grown the ATV members, Hall said.
“We also see the effect we’re having on this corridor, “ he said.
Working with youth, Hall said a moment that impacted him deeply was when a kid came to the ATV team to ask for help in finding their mother a job. The team was able to help the mother become a staff member, he said.
But if he had the capital to truly change Charlotte, he would start with adding more wrap-around services for residents, Hall said. One example would be making wireless broadband readily accessible for students in low income housing, he said. Creating ESL programs for Spanish-speaking parents also is needed, he said.
“I would take money and bridge the gaps in the communities,” Hall said.
Youth Advocate Programs is one of two nonprofits overseeing the ATV program.
Fred Fogg, YAPs national director of community based safety initiatives said the team is looking to establish a legacy with their work. Ground level community events like establishing the first tree lighting in the corridor establishes trust, he said.
“I’m really optimistic about what the next year looks like,” Fogg said. “They’re firing on all cylinders.”
Fogg said while the ATV team is focused on Beatties Ford, he’s hopeful its success could help launch other sites in the near future in Charlotte.
YAP expects to release a detailed report of the team’s work in February. Success will be measured through viewing reductions in homicides and assaults with deadly weapons, city officials have said.
Bringing on other sites could help have a broader impact on Charlotte as a whole, Fogg said. Violence often travels and expanding the program will allow the team to cast a wider net.
“Having those lines of communication to impact violence across the city broadly is going to be huge,” Fogg said.
The team has taken baby steps before, but now they’re running, Hall said.
“We want to show this model can work,” he said.
This story was originally published December 29, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
