WATCH: Metropolitan Peace Academy Graduates Reflect on CVI Training Experience
The ranks of Community Violence Intervention (CVI) experts grow every season as the Metropolitan Peace Academy (MPA) welcomes new cohorts of case managers, outreach workers, and victim advocates. Meet four new graduates from the MPA as they reflect on their training experience and their work as champions of CVI.
“This work is very much needed and it’s very important.”
Dwayne Hunter, Victim Advocate at the Alliance of Local Service Organizations (ALSO), graduated from Victim Services Cohort 5. His motivation to provide critical support for victims of gun violence stems from a desire to see himself, his family, and his community enjoy a safer city. “The reason I got into this work is because I had a child,” he shared, “and I didn’t want to see myself missing time out of my child’s life.”
He continued, “This work is very much needed, and it’s very important. [This work] gives me a sense of… being from a community, being a part of something.”
“It was time to do something other than cry.”
Kaja Cook, graduate from Outreach Cohort 21 and Outreach Worker for Breakthrough Urban Ministries, turned her pain into purpose by dedicating herself to CVI. “I was active in the community, hanging around a lot, and I kept seeing a lot of gun violence […] I was tired; it was time to do something other than cry.”
Now, as an Outreach Worker, Cook is boots-on-the-ground, serving her neighborhood, friends and strangers alike. “[I’m] doing the work to get them equitable access to the tools and resources they need to become successful.”
“[It’s] been a full circle moment.”
Marcos Estrada, New Life Centers Outreach Worker and graduate from Outreach Cohort 22, believes in the power of community investment. “I think this work is super important for Chicago because most people who grew up here, their solution is to leave the neighborhood, to go out and find a better place to live as opposed to going into the harder places, going to where the people are who need the most help.”
“My family comes from Little Village, so to be back and working with the people in the area where my family grew up, has been a full circle moment.”
“I wanted to be the change that I see in the community.”
Trauma Outreach Worker Najawa Stith from Advocate Trauma Recovery Center and graduate from Case Management Cohort 10 wants to do more than just make change. “I wanted to be the change that I see in the community,” she shared.
“I’ve lost loved ones to violence across the city as well. I want to help change lives. I want to help people who look like myself. And representation matters, so I just want everyone to know that they can come from these neighborhoods, come from the struggle, and make an impact on people’s lives too.”
The MPA is the premier training facility for street outreach workers, case managers, victim advocates, and trauma recovery specialists in the CVI field. The Academy also provides community training for Chicago residents and police officers.