Pennsylvania nonprofit teaches conflict resolution, professional skills to young men in Delaware County
Upper Darby police are still searching for a young suspect wanted in the shooting death of a 16-year-old boy over the weekend.
Police said the juvenile suspect shot the teen in the back during an argument near Long Lane and Pine Street on Sunday. Family members identified the victim as Upper Darby High School sophomore Khalief Webster.
The deadly shooting puts a focus on organizations that work to prevent interpersonal conflicts from escalating to violence.
Making A Change Group is a nonprofit based in Chester that provides free conflict resolution training to young people.
"It's very inspiring to see the individuals, the young people come together," Cory Long, founder of Making A Change Group, said. "We've seen many of them talk through their beefs with individuals and they'll say 'Hey, we didn't even know why we were beefing with you. We just didn't like you because a relative didn't like you.'"
Conflict resolution is just one part of the nonprofit's gun violence prevention program.
On Tuesday, a small group of men, ages 18-24, graduated from a four-week program that taught them not only how to settle disputes peacefully, but also how to use a computer effectively and build their resume. All seven men have either been affected by gun violence or are involved in the criminal justice system.
Wylee Simpson, a 20-year-old from Chester, was among the graduates who received a certificate of completion. A shooting survivor, he said in the past, he often got into street fights.
"I get angry fast, and I learned how to calm down and how to work on myself way better," Simpson said.
Participants overcame numerous hurdles during their training.
"During the process, there was times when I wanted to quit," Ky'Onta Brown, a 24-year-old participant from Chester, said. "There would be mornings they call, 'Yo, get up, come on, let's go. Get up, let's go,' and that little push in the morning, after 9 or 10 o'clock, you good."
Mentoring is a key component to the success of the program.
"My goal is to get children or disadvantaged young men to value not only their lives, but the lives of the people around them," Gregory Cottman, violence interventionist with Making A Change Group, said.
