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A brand new app for younger individuals in three northeast Denver neighborhoods goals to cut back violence by connecting youth to the assistance they want earlier than issues attain a breaking level.
Launched in July, “The Energy of One” app is a bit just like the statewide tip line Safe2Tell, however with two key variations. It addresses a broader array of issues than threats, violence, or self-harm and goals to attenuate police involvement until completely needed.
Youth can use the free Energy of One app or accompanying hotline to submit nameless ideas or request assist with points comparable to discovering a counselor, stopping residence utilities from being shut off, or heading off an imminent battle at college. 4 skilled peer mediators will area lots of the submissions, however true emergencies might be referred to regulation enforcement. This system is aimed toward college students in Montbello, Inexperienced Valley Ranch, and Park Hill, however submissions from different neighborhoods may also be addressed.
Though the app has acquired just one submission up to now — a pupil request for volunteer alternatives — leaders of the hassle hope it should finally develop citywide and assist derail youth violence by offering holistic assist to younger individuals.
“When youth are struggling, no matter these struggles might be, in the event that they’re not addressed, they’ll form of cascade … into eventual involvement in violence,” stated Dave Bechhoefer, venture director for the Youth Violence Prevention Middle-Denver, which spearheaded the app.
Arrests for violent crime, murder, and aggravated assault within the neighborhoods focused by the app exceed charges in Denver and the nation, in line with the info from the College of Colorado Boulder, the place the middle is housed.
Kaliah Yizar, one in all a few dozen youth advisers who helped form The Energy of One app, stated one of many methods the app can assist is by connecting youth to constructive shops.
“What we’ve seen is that when youth are given alternatives … comparable to taking part in sports activities, comparable to becoming a member of golf equipment, getting concerned in class, these college students are a lot much less more likely to get entangled in youth violence,” she stated.
The app, which is monitored across the clock, can also be meant to interrupt violence which may be brewing.
Yizar, now a junior at Howard College in Washington, D.C., stated she would have appreciated the app when she was in highschool at Martin Luther King Jr. Early Faculty within the Inexperienced Valley Ranch neighborhood.
It will have helped “if I knew about one thing and I used to be afraid of going to somebody at college, if I used to be afraid of calling the police and being labeled a snitch,” she stated.
When Yizar’s aunt was principal at her college, college students typically let her aunt know if, for instance, a classmate posted a photograph of a gun on Snapchat or was planning a battle.
The Energy of One app “is nice for youth who don’t have these connections in class and nonetheless need to let individuals find out about what they know, however do it in a approach that’s nameless and secure to them,” she stated.
The app started taking form in 2022 with assist from a $6 million federal grant targeted on discovering modern methods to cut back youth violence. Bechhoefer stated the fundamental concept was to attach youth within the goal neighborhoods to neighborhood sources, however the venture’s youth advisers homed in on one of the simplest ways to do this.
“Once we talked in regards to the technique with our youth council, the very first thing they stated was, ‘Effectively, you want an app,’” he stated.
The Energy of One makes use of the identical software program and structure because the 20-year-old Safe2Tell service, however contains different options, comparable to hyperlinks to native organizations and occasion calendars. A number of options from the youth council had been integrated into the app, together with the phrase “make a connection” as a substitute of “make a tip,” which Yizar stated can have unfavorable connotations to teenagers.
One of many app’s predominant promoting factors is that it’s a community-based service, she stated.
“Down the street the youth want to hyperlink to job alternatives, internships, something that may additionally help youth,” Bechhoefer stated.
Proper now, the largest problem for Bechhoefer, Yizar, and different champions of the hassle is getting the phrase out to native teenagers. The app has been downloaded 163 occasions, has acquired one direct submission, and a pair referrals from different reporting companies. In distinction, Safe2Tell acquired greater than 28,000 ideas in the course of the 2023-24 college yr.
Yizar stated she and different college students concerned within the venture tabled at block events over the summer season to inform youth and oldsters in regards to the app. Some downloaded it on the spot. Though Yizar is now away in school, different teenagers are working to get the phrase out at their Denver colleges.
The federal grant that funds the app venture expires in 2026.
“We now have mainly two years to essentially present that that is an efficient youth violence intervention,” Bechhoefer stated.
Ann Schimke is a senior reporter at Chalkbeat, protecting early childhood points and early literacy. Contact Ann at aschimke@chalkbeat.org.
