NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Beyond the frequent blue lights and past the violent headlines, there are stories being told by nearly 50 teens who have worked to make a difference not just for the city, but for their peers.
"I understand how crucial it is to be and feel seen in places you spend most of your time, especially if one of those places is a learning environment," 18-year-old Paige Hodge said.
Hodge also spoke during the public comment period at a June Metro Council meeting. She talked about her personal experience and advocated for the Metro Council to support the Varsity Spending Plan.
The plan, at the time, was part of the city's proposed operating budget that would be split into three main parts: increasing community center programming, establishing the Office of Youth Safety and implementing a restorative justice program in area high schools.
Hodge told the Council a personal story about a friend. She addressed the need for opportunities for people and kids in the community in order to succeed. Hodge also spoke about how she had seen first-hand how positive affirmation and supportive systems can change someone's life for the better. However, without resources, it could change for the worse.
"I had a friend whose home life wasn't very healthy and for a long time, school was their safe space until we got to high school," Hodge said at the June meeting. "And it started feeling more like a burden than an escape. Not too long after, he got caught up in some bad stuff because he no longer felt he had options and now he's in jail. Had things been different, he could have been graduating this year."
Hodge is part of the Southern Movement Committee, which is an organization built to help those in the community both be and feel safe.
"The people closest to the problems have the solutions," Erica Perry, the Southern Movement Committee's executive director, said. "I hope that families who have lost young people and family members to gun violence this year see this as a reason to hope, a bit of justice that we are beginning to solve the issue of gun violence in our community."
Just before Thanksgiving, Mayor Freddie O'Connell signed an Executive Order creating the Office of Youth Safety. The order came after Metro Nashville Council Budget Chair Delishia Portfield secured $750,000 to establish the Office. She also helped secure an additional $250,000 to pilot a restorative justice program at Napier Community Center.
"I think the executive order is a step in the right direction and it confirms what our young people go through, which is they have the ability to change the world if they work together," said Jamel Campbell-Gooch, the Southern Movement Committee's Organizing Director. "We can do the advocacy work, but we also need [the] government to also play their part. I think when it comes to the executive order, it's a signal to our young people that if you take one step towards us, we'll take one step towards you."
The office and its director are expected to:
- Create, evaluate and promote programming to prevent conflict from escalating into gun violence. Programming should also equip young people with conflict resolution skills.
- Use data and research to inform Metro’s investments in youth violence prevention and restorative programming, focusing primarily on young people most at risk of violence.
- Gather and assess how various departments across Metro can continue building safer communities for young people and reduce harmful interactions with the criminal justice system.
- Support community-informed, evidence-based anti-violence initiatives within Metro departments as part of a comprehensive effort promoting youth safety.
- Develop relationships with existing restorative justice leaders, Metro Nashville Public Schools and other independent agencies to incubate a restorative justice program.
"One word that comes to mind is restorative," Campbell-Gooch added. "Because I think we have to begin the process of restoration in order to even solve something like gun violence proactively."