| Posted: April 19 2005,15:40 |
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PROGRESS: Has your organization seen
progress toward a culture of peace and nonviolence in your domain of
action and in your constituency during the first half of the Decade? |
The
mission of Partners for Violence Prevention (PVP) is to promote peace,
reduce the incidence and impact of violence, and build the capacity for
violence prevention in the community. PVP is a critical link for
families, healthcare and community organizations to develop and nurture
a culture of peace in St. Paul and surrounding communities through
collaboration and the provision of education and resources. Our
vision – we strive for the day that you don’t need us anymore.
Our Guiding Principles:
We believe that…
…everyone has a right to a peaceful life.
…working in partnership with others is the best way to accomplish our mission in a sustainable way.
…our activities must mirror the needs of the community.
…our work must include the diverse voices of the community.
…a culture of peace will be created and will transcend time.
PVP has seen great progress toward a culture of peace and nonviolence in our community.
Some of the results compiled this past year include:
•Overall,
there has been a decrease in the number of violent crimes since 1998
(in West 7th - St. Paul neighborhood). Apart from homicides, the number
of violent crimes increased slightly between 2001 and 2003.
•Since PVP began, over 2000 health care providers have been trained in the DV101 curriculum
•Domestic
violence screening rates in the Emergency Department increased from 40%
in the spring of 2002 to 50% in the fall of 2003 and for that same
period in the Birth Center, increased from 46% to 82%
•Referrals to
advocacy have remained high with 158 patients referred in the second
quarter of 2004. Since fourth quarter 1999, referrals have been near or
over 100 per quarter.
•Over 2900 victims of domestic violence have been referred to advocacy services since the start of this program.
Of the 397 3-6th graders surveyed at West 7th (St. Paul neighborhood) area schools (2003) approximately:
•35% observed another student threatened or picked on, down from 38% in 2001
•16% observed a student physically hurt another student, down from 28% in 2001
•10% responded they had been physically hurt in the past week, down from 18% in 2001
West 7th Community Survey (WRC) 1996 to 2003 responses:
•90% of residents feel secure in their homes, up from 80% in 1996
•40% of respondents are aware of PVP, up from 24% in 1998
As
these numbers indicate, PVP has begun to make a difference but there
continues to be a tremendous need for services for victims of violence,
and there is also a need for prevention and early intervention
programs.
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OBSTACLES: What are the most important obstacles that have prevented progress?
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There
is a strong base of research supporting both prevention and
intervention work for family violence and building resiliency in our
children. PVP has worked methodically and effectively in these areas
and want to continue to strengthen our community and our children. As
cities, counties and the state continue to face cutbacks in services
related to prevention work, social services and other crucial areas, it
becomes increasingly important for organizations such as PVP to fill
these gaps.
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ACTIONS: What actions have been
undertaken by your organization to promote a culture of peace and
nonviolence during the first half of the Decade?
|
A
significant part of PVP's work to promote a culture of peace is our
work with local schools through our Community Violence Prevention
Program which focuses on children.
This important work reaches approximately 5,600 students.
Some of our actions include:
Since
2001, PVP has led a community-wide celebration of International Week of
Peace during the third week in September. The purpose of of this
celebration is to: connect peace sites to one another, encourage the
establishment of new peace sites and the rededication of existing sites
and make a connection with and raise awareness about a community in
another country and their peacemaking efforts. We have
highlighted Nagasaki, Japan (St. Paul's sister city), South Africa,
Glencree Reconciliation Centre in Ireland, and an elementary school in
Ontario, Canada. PVP sent peace poles to Ireland and Canada.
•In
all West 7th neighborhood schools, PVP provides and supports curricula
shown to prevent violent behavior among students. The curricula
introduce concepts and definitions of violence and teach anger
management, social and emotional skills, and techniques to reduce
stress and develop positive approaches to assertiveness and
self-confidence in the face of violence. In these schools,
violence prevention and peace promotion projects, activities and events
have also been initiated by PVP and perpetuated by faculty and school
leadership.
•PVP helps develop and support Student Peace Councils
where youth learn and practice peacemaking strategies to employ in
school, at home, and in the community.
•Creative peacemaking
projects are initiated and supported by PVP. An example of this
is the ceramic tile “Peace Wall” at Monroe Community School, where each
graduating student designs a tile for permanent installation in the
mural. Each year since 1999 sections of this mural have been completed
and installed. In addition, over 500 children in 3 years have
participated in peace essay writing, and with support from the local
Day by Day Café, children’s peace related artwork has been displayed on
menu covers for the past several years. In collaboration
with a school counselor, PVP also supports and leads the creation of
peace bracelets in all West 7th schools and coordinates an annual Peace
Bracelet Day in April.
•PVP incorporates the link between
peacemaking and respecting the environment into its violence prevention
efforts with youth. This concept has been added to the annual
peace essay writing in the West 7th community, schools have
participated in Earth month activities, and a Peace and Environment
Camp is held each Fall for 7th and 8th grade students from diverse
neighborhoods in St. Paul and surrounding communities.
Other peace activities include:
•PVP
encourages and supports the establishment of official peace sites where
schools, businesses, and community organizations publicly commit to
peace and peace promotion and install a peace pole with the phrase “May
Peace Prevail on Earth” in multiple languages. PVP has assisted
in the establishment of 16 peace sites, including both schools and
agencies, in the West 7th community.
•West 7th Family center staff
(a program of PVP) is currently providing an animal assisted therapy
program to Women of Nations Eagle’s Nest Shelter and Women’s Advocates
battered women’s shelters. This program brings volunteer handlers and
their trained pets along with an art therapist into the shelters to
work with children.
•“Welcome to Our Peaceful Neighborhood” resource
packets were provided to 560 new residents of the West 7th Neighborhood
from 2002-2004. These packets introduced PVP to the resident and
provided various violence prevention resources and materials.
Approximately 20 new residents were reached each month. Feedback
received from recipients was very positive and most found the resource
packets very useful. This program has begun again in 2005.
•“Be A
Good Sport,” an event at the start of each youth basketball season in
St. Paul that promotes non-violence in youth athletics for kids,
parents, spectators and coaches was developed and is supported by PVP.
In 2004, PVP partnered with the Minnesota Twins to bring Be A
Good Sport to the Metrodome at one of the Twins’ home games. St.
Paul Mayor Randy Kelly attended this event to declare August 22nd “Be a
Good Sport Day” in St. Paul.
•PVP provides family violence/domestic
violence education and training for physicians, nurses, family practice
medical residents, emergency medical service providers, allied health
care staff and community members and is working to improve the
curriculum to be culturally competent and culturally specific. To date
over 1500 individuals have participated in the “DV101” training.
•Peaceful
Families training (based on Positive Parenting curriculum) is provided
to clinic physicians, staff and family practice medical residents to
help create a “safe place” for patients by teaching staff effective
interventions in parent/child conflicts and helping them model
non-violent parenting for their patients. Since we started doing this,
we have trained 140 United Family Practice Health Center staff on
Peaceful Families.
Glencree
Centre for Reconciliation staff (County Wicklow, Ireland) with the
peace pole sent by Partners for Violence Prevention (St. Paul,
Minnesota).
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ADVICE: What advice would you like to
give to the Secretary-General and the General Assembly to promote a
culture of peace and nonviolence during the second half of the Decade? |
There
are so many individuals and agencies around the world dedicated to
peace and yet, we do not hear about them or learn of them in the local
or national news in the same way we hear of the suffering in the world.
The information we receive about violence and injustice in the
world is important of course in our understanding of people's lives and
learning how to respond, however, news of peace and solidarity gives
people hope. We need to come together and work to get this
information into our media sources as a means to inspire hope and to
unify us in all our efforts towards the common goal of peace.
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PARTNERSHIPS: What partnerships and
networks does your organization participate in, thus strengthening the
global movement for a culture of peace? |
Adams Spanish Immersion School
African American Family Services
African Women’s Resource Center
American Indian Family Center
Breaking Free
Bridge View School
Bruce Vento Elementary School
Casa de Esperanza
Center for Reducing Rural Violence
Children’s Hospital and Clinics
Children’s Family Resource Center
Children’s Safety Centers
CLUES
Dispute Resolution Center
Domestic Abuse Project
Eastside Arts Council/Families Living In Peace
Eastside Family Center
Fort Road Federation
Four Seasons Elementary School
Harding High School
Highwood Hills Elementary School
Initiative for Violence -Free Families in Hennepin County
Initiative for Violence -Free Families & Communities in Ramsey County
Merrick Community Services
Metropolitan State University - Community Violence Prevention Institute
Midwest Children’s Resource Center
Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault/Sexual Violence Justice Institute
Minnesota Department of Health - Sexual Violence Prevention Program
Minnesota Department of Health - Office of Minority and Multicultural Health
Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center
Monroe Achievement Plus Community School
Native American Indian Center
Parkway Elementary School
Peace United Church of Christ
Portico
Ramsey Action Programs - Head Start
Ramsey County Attorney’s Office
Ramsey County Board of Commissioners
Ramsey County Child Protection
Ramsey County Child Abuse Prevention Council
Ramsey County Corrections
Ramsey County Family Reunification Unit
Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office
Regions Hospital
Saint Francis - Saint James United School
Saint John’s Hospital
Saint Paul Department of Fire and Safety
Saint Paul - District 1, District 2 and District 4 Councils
Saint Paul Domestic Abuse Intervention Project
Saint Paul Police Department
Saint Paul Public Schools/Community Education
Saint Paul Public Schools/Early Childhood and Family Education
Saint Paul Public Schools/Early Childhood and Special Education
Saint Paul Public Schools/School Readiness
Saint Paul - Ramsey County Public Health
Saint Thomas/Saint Catherine School of Social Work
The Salvation Army
Sandcastle Child Care
Sexual Offense Services of Ramsey County
Trinity Catholic School
Twin Cities Academy
United Family Practice Health Center
United Hospital
United Hospital Foundation
University of Minnesota Extension Services of Ramsey County
West 7th Community Center
West 7th Community Reporter
White Bear Lake Police Department
Wilder Research Center
Women’s Advocates
Women of Nations Eagles Nest
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PLANS: What new engagements are
planned by your organization to promote a culture of peace and
nonviolence in the second half of the Decade (2005-2010)? |
All the activities listed above will continue into the second half of the decade.
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Postal address of organization
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Partners for Violence Prevention
340 Walnut Street
St. Paul, Minnesota 55102
United States of America
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E-mail address of organization
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moira.lynch@allina.com
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Website address of organization
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www.partnersforviolenceprevention.org
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Highest priority action domain of a culture of peace
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Education for a culture of peace
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Second priority action domain of a culture of peace
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Highest priority country of action (or international)
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United States of America (St. Paul, Minnesota)
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Second priority country of action (or international)
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