BRINGING HOPE TO THE COMMUNITY

East St. Louis School District 189 and its staff are residents, born-and-raised and transplants who want to bring hope to the youth in East St. Louis. We have created a multi-pronged program to address violence and trauma in our East St. Louis Community by focusing on the students within it. We will lead an outreach and marketing campaign across the city to promote the reduction of violence and the increase of hope; we will activate a mental health trauma response team–the SOS team–to respond to student crises during after school and weekend hours; we will reach and support youth while they are detained with criminal charges to provide violence interruption and rehabilitation services; we are supporting youth who have experienced trauma and want to create and live in a peaceful community; and we will support youth and their families with individual and family counseling and support through our wraparound program. We will serve students and families who are struggling with trauma symptoms who have been involved with violence as a victim, witness, or perpetrator.