Summary

As noted at the beginning of this article, crime and violence rates in California have fallen significantly over the past decade. During this time, the state of California passed some of the toughest gun control laws in the country and dramatically increased spending for violence prevention and youth safety programs—including after-school opportunities and job training. The public health focus on violence prevention also attracted new players and fostered new collaborative partnerships among educators, health professionals, community leaders and government officials.

Yet violence against youth is still a public health epidemic. Gun violence remains the second leading cause of death for California’s youth. More than 6,000 young people, on average, are hospitalized each year in California for some form of violent injury.

To adequately address this issue, the role of law enforcement must continue to be augmented by a comprehensive public health focus on the environmental factors that contribute to violence—from the lack of after-school activities to easy access to firearms and alcohol.

Perhaps the most profound lesson the Foundation has learned from its California Peace Prize is that many committed individuals are working to keep young people safe in California. The well-being of our communities is largely determined by the character, skills and resources of such individuals, who take it upon themselves to become leaders.

Hidden within the pages of our grant applications and between the lines of grant dockets is a potent force for change: the passion and commitment of community leaders. Although we in philanthropy are aware of this phenomenon, we may not easily recognize or understand its relationship to the issues we care so deeply about.

Indeed, we often look for “community participation.” And we know that change must take place “at the community level.” But how does that happen? It happens through the individual actions of community leaders who connect disadvantaged constituencies with the institutions of our society. Whether large or small — government, business or nonprofit — local or national — urban or rural — institutions cannot meet the social and economic challenges of disadvantaged communities without the participation of community members and their leaders.

Healthy communities need involved citizens. The lifeblood of a civil society is citizen concern and citizen action. The California Peace Prize honorees’ experiences offer practical, proven examples of how to strengthen and build healthy communities and how to spread the word that violence is preventable.

Whether seeking to solve a community problem, involve neighbors in the cause, or be more effective as a support organization or funder of community leadership programs, we believe there is something of value to be gained from telling the California Peace Prize honorees’ stories. They demonstrate that there is no single method of preventing violence — just as there is no single cause of the problem. For this reason, The California Wellness Foundation has found that an investment in telling the stories of these extraordinary community-based leaders pays large dividends — in terms of furthering their work and advancing public policies that prevent violence in California.

The California Peace Prize Honorees
 

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