For Wounded Vets' Children, a Special Summer Week

Across the country, hospitals are embracing intensive intervention programs to help victims of violence — including those who have criminal histories — after they have been brought in for treatment of injuries. Such programs can help prevent retaliation, reduce the chance a patient will be violently injured again, and put people on track for success.

Despite being an island of seamen, Iceland used to experience high numbers of drownings every year, fostering a keen interest in swimming education. The government stepped up and tapped into the underground hot water generated by Iceland’s volcanic activity to create geothermal pools, which quickly became more than a humble municipal investment, but perhaps the very secret to the country’s happiness. Every town now enjoys communal pools, which create a neutral, recreational space that brings all manner of people together.

The Centre for the Prevention of Radicalization Leading to Violence in Quebec has expanded rapidly, becoming a model for programs around the world. What sets it apart from projects in Europe and the United States is that it confronts extremism of all stripes — not just Islamist — and focuses on behavior that signals the risk of violence, not just radical ideas, only involving law enforcement as a last resort.

Many young Latina women live their lives in fear of gang violence. The Montgomery County Street Outreach Network rescues girls in danger and offers services to them in order to help them change their chances of success.

Programs like Outdoor Outreach in San Diego are working to help at-risk youth engage with nature and outdoor recreation, activities that have often been associated with "economic privilege and whiteness," by providing free recreational and civic engagement programming. The initiatives are also based off research that shows that access to green spaces and time outside has long term benefits on mental health and well-being.

Figure Skating in Harlem is a group working to help young girls of color in New York learn teamwork, dedication, and hardwork - and the art of figure skating, a sport that is often perceived as inaccessible and overwhelmingly white and Asian-American. But the program doesn't just stop there; the program also includes academic and leadership development.

Across New Hampshire, youth are leading the fight against substance abuse. Programs like Dover’s Youth-to-Youth, Stand Up Sachems, Youth Leadership Through Adventure, and the Making it Happen Coalition, are all youth-led, adult-supported initiatives that are empowering young adults to create and disseminate substance abuse awareness and prevention campaigns. Fundamental to each of these efforts effective communication and creating a sense of community as key to prevention.

Teens selling water on the sweltering streets of Atlanta are typically dealt with by police officers who often crack down on "unpermitted sales of water by youth." In a new approach, city officials convened a council to offer alternatives to police action and suggested ways to promote and develop the entrepreneurial spirit in teens through a variety of programs. The council looked to a similar program in Baltimore that re-engaged windshield-washing teens in school and re-directed others to full-time jobs.

At one Texas high school, members of Students Organizing for Anti-Racism (SOAR) facilitate and participate in talking circles to address conflict, provide mental health support, rebuild relationships, and redevelop social skills they lost during the pandemic. The circles draw on Indigenous traditions to offer a safe, structured space for expression that focuses on addressing harm rather than administering punishment.

Securecycle is a nonprofit working to reduce the number of young students not attending school in Ogun State, Nigeria. The organization collects old jeans to turn into bags and finds students who are, or will likely, drop out of school to teach them bag production and give them a scholarship to finish primary school.