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Will Power to Youth participants and guests.

Over the past few years, OJJDP has worked with the Commonwealth Attorney General's Office to develop the Gang Reduction Intervention and Prevention (GRIP) program to address Richmond's growing gang problem. GRIP, one of OJJDP's Gang Reduction Program sites, has brought together local law enforcement, prevention and intervention practitioners, the schools, faith-based organizations, and community members to address gang violence and to provide youth with an alternative to gang membership. GRIP's most recent effort in this regard is the launching of the Will Power to Youth program.

The Will Power to Youth Program—providing participating youth with a mentor while they receive on-the-job training and work skills development—makes for a perfect match with the GRIP program. Will Power for Youth pairs adult professional artists who serve as mentors to local youth, providing them something they so desperately need as they struggle to address the challenges that confront them.

…Will Power to Youth does more than just provide caring adults for youth who might otherwise lose their way. While promoting the importance of completing high school, it helps keep kids in school and teaches them life skills for the responsibilities they will bear as adults and as parents. The program provides them with job skills to help improve their success in the labor market and offers a safe place to participate in extracurricular activities.

… Programs such as GRIP and Will Power to Youth provide at-risk and troubled youth the guidance and support that can mean the difference between a happy, productive life or a life of crime and violence.

Using a national model created by Shakespeare Festival/LA, the Will Power to Youth program promotes youth development and employment training to young people at risk for delinquency and gang involvement. The Richmond GRIP's Will Power to Youth program employs 20 to 25 at-risk youth during summer vacation to produce, adapt, and perform a Shakespeare play. Students explore not only the art and mechanics of producing a play, but also the thematic issues that resonate in their own lives, while learning vital life and employment skills. It also draws on the resources of an array of social service programs that provide a safety net for the youth. A social worker will continue to meet one-on-one with the youth for 1 year and will be available when needed to link them to local services to reinforce lessons learned in the summer program.

Rotisha Hazelwood (Juliet) and Derek Cheatham (Romeo) enact the famous balcony scene.

For more information on Will Power to Youth, visit www.richmondshakespeare.com/Educ-Students-WillPower.asp.