New Community Outreach uses peace circles to help young people in Bronzeville build relationships
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to gun violence in Chicago, but New Community Outreach is trying a less traditional technique that has seen growth and success.
The bell that sounds and the lessons taught on the third floor of the Bronzeville Scholastic Institute aren't exactly traditional.
"In the beginning of the year, some students were very apprehensive about what this space was," said circle keeper Hope Hammond.
Instead of textbooks you'll find a nesting doll, baby Yoda and magic wand.
"These are our talking pieces," said Sonia Wang, executive director of New Community Outreach.
Her nonprofit's Knowledge Empowers Youth program, known as KEY, utilizes peace circles to show young people how to build relationships. They learn to trust each other, resolve conflicts, remain open to different perspectives and more.
"Coming out of the pandemic, I know we talk about that a lot, these were skills that were missing," said Dr. Demetria Richardson-Starks, principal at Bronzeville Scholastic Institute. "They didn't know how to have face-to-face conversations or disagreements if that came about. They didn't know how to deal with those things."
Richardson-Stark said the KEY program has filled a void at her school. Senior Janessa Savage agrees.
"By the time you're done with your program for the first year, you're more vulnerable, you got a better connection, a better community with the people that you're around," she said.
Savage is now a peace circle intern.
"You're going through all the emotions: happy, sad, love. it feels like you feel seen in the circle," she said.
In 2022, CBS News Chicago showed you the peace circle process happening inside the church that houses New Community Outreach. Since then, donations have helped the KEY program, which also includes bond-building games, expand into multiple high schools. They are focusing, very intentionally, on the Bronzeville neighborhood.
"Community violence and systems of oppression has kind of been the undergird of its story," Wang said. "And in order for the people in that community to be able to move forward to flourish, I think it's important that we activate the power that's within us."
The restorative justice approach is why this class looks and feels different than others.
"It's symbolic of like, unity and we are here in this space together," Hammond said.
The hope is to create more meaningful moments starting at a younger age. New Community Outreach recently ran a pilot with third graders that went so well, the plan is to add second graders to the roster next year.
CBS News Chicago has partnered with Strides for Peace as the media sponsor for Chicago's Race Against Gun Violence in Grant Park on June 5. Click here for more information on the fundraiser, how to sign up and our coverage of participating nonprofits.
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