Stories From Main Street: My Brother's Keeper Brings Police, Youth To Same Table
NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- In New Rochelle, at-risk youth are meeting with police in an informal setting and sharing a meal.
"Both groups got to be in touch with each other's humanity," said New Rochelle High School Principal Reginald Richardson. "And so it's going to be an ongoing program that we're going to have."
Richardson hopes to erase suspicion and mistrust, WCBS 880's Sean Adams reported.
"And a way to prevent that is really to develop authentic relationships between these two groups so that now if a police officer sees one of these young people on the street, they have a basis. They know something about this kid. They know what this kid aspires to be," Richardson said.
The Youth-Police Initiative is just one piece of My Brother's Keeper, President Barack Obama's challenge to keep black and Latino youth on track.
In New Rochelle, that starts with a curriculum for preschools, mentors to get all children reading by third grade, and in high school, "we're also looking at some dual-enrollment college opportunities where our students will take college courses at College of New Rochelle and earn high school credit as well as college credit," Richardson said.
Plus the program aims to help with resumes, job readiness and a shot at employment locally, said New Rochelle Councilman Jared Rice.
"We're looking to establish a citywide mentoring program, where we bring in responsible mentors who are going to be dedicated," he said.
Rice said plenty of organizations already have helped young people. My Brother's Keeper brings everyone to the same table.
"The city, the school district and then the community at large, and that's really the foundation of how we're going to make this thing work," he said.
