Photographs of my community. A Photovoice project or the Fresno BHC (Building Healthy Communities) Initiative of The California Endowment.
Neighborhood Watch
I see a calm neighborhood with a Watch Sign posted. The community came together to keep one another safe. In our lives, this is important because it makes neighborhoods safer for residents. This also brings comfort knowing that someone is willing to help rather than just watch. This also helps adults watch out for the youth and help keep them off the streets. Something we can do is spread the neighborhood watch idea all over Fresno, especially in places where there is more violence, and help residents feel safer rather than fearful.
Street View
In this photo, there is a house at the corner of an alley. The garage has graffiti from those trying to leave their “mark.” Many young people are having too much fun with spray cans. They make some places look more ghetto. The tagging usually marks the gangs around the neighborhood, or maybe one of them passed through the area. Sometimes this can lead to deadly fights or turf issues. Not only does this make our community look unprofessional but also it creates separation. I don’t know how to stop this problem because it’s been around for so long.
Cigarette By Curb
In this photo, I see a cigarette lying on the side of a curb. It seems like people are carelessly throwing things away thinking it is okay, but what they don’t know is that when some teens see these things, it influences them and might make them think they should smoke. Some people don’t notice that little things like this could have a big impact. We can do something by helping people better understand they should not litter, especially with stuff that can influence young people.
In 2006, over 25 youth began participating in weekly after-school writing workshops where they congregated in the hallway of a two-story building in West Fresno and learned the essentials of creating media and telling their stories. The group evolved over the next five years and is now proudly recognized as The kNOw Youth Media.
Through our program, we create opportunities for our youth participants, who in turn create long-term positive change in their communities. Our approach weaves youth development and youth media innovation to produce our biannual youth publication, multimedia projects, and community forums.
The kNOw began as a project of New America Media, which was the country’s first and largest national collaboration and advocate of 2000 ethnic news organizations. In 2018 The kNOw became a project of Youth Leadership Institute.
