The CeaseFire program is bringing law enforcement, government and community leaders together to stop the cycle of gang violence by focusing intensely on the small number of individuals who are responsible for most of the violence. At-risk youth and ex-cons are surrounded by support and services to help them join mainstream society and abandon their violent ways.
Sacramento’s Office of Youth Development — created as the only standalone city department dedicated to youth in the Sacramento region — has been folded into the city’s Parks Department to save money in tough economic times. But city officials and community members say they think the office can remain effective if it continues the kind of work that has been typical of its first three years in business.
An innovative program that helps drug addicts retake control of their lives with healthy eating, stress reduction and natural supplements has been cut from the Sacramento Drug Court’s recovery program because of budget shortfalls.
With money raised from outside grants, government funding and other resources, Grant High School in Sacramento’s Del Paso Heights neighborhood has been able to run an edible garden and kitchen on campus. But the program is constantly threatened by scarce resources.
Five years after the Sacramento Hunger Commission targeted the South Sacramento neighborhoods of Avondale and Glen Elder in an effort to improve access to fresh fruits and vegetables, the community’s food resources remain scarce. There is no major grocery store in the neighborhood, farmers markets are too few and far between, and community gardens have failed to catch on as a viable alternative for residents. HealthyCal contributor Nik Bonovich has the report.