By Ryan Schwartz
For Community Boards
Community Boards, an organization that works closely with SFPD, honors an individual every year for their work making SF a safer and more peaceful place to live. This year, our 2013 Raymond Shonholtz Visionary Peacemaker Award is going to John Cathey and David Sands, two Mission district neighborhood police officers who have pioneered a unique approach to help teens leave gangs.
While walking their 24th Street beat, they routinely saw teens stuck in a cycle of gang violence and jail time. Realizing that these teens needed an alternative, John and David began connecting them with full-time employment to help them launch promising careers and walk away from the gangs on which they depended. They also started a program to strengthen families of at risk youth and disrupt common gang recruitment tactics that prayed on youth who felt like they lacked a family. Community Boards is thrilled to celebrate their innovative and successful approach to transforming young lives and making San Francisco a more peaceful city.
John and David will be honored at an awards luncheon on June 7th at the City Club of San Francisco. The event will be keynoted by moveon.org co-founder Joan Blades. More information about joining them and other officers at the ceremony can be found at http://communityboards.org/in-the-community/sfpeacemakerawards/. The mission of Community Boards is to empower the communities and individuals of San Francisco with the strength, skills and resources needed to express and resolve conflicts peacefully and appropriately for their culture and environment. Mediation, training and facilitation services are offered in English, Spanish, Mandarin and Cantonese to all San Francisco residents. Community Boards serves over 2,000 residents, nonprofits and businesses a year with its pool of 300+ volunteer mediators. Since 1976, Community Boards has assisted 46,000 San Francisco residents and trained more than 16,000 community members to be skilled mediators. More information is available at www.CommunityBoards.org.
