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Community groups tell Alameda County how navigators, hospital teams and cultural healing reduce harm
Summary
Presentations from Destiny Arts, Roots Community Health, Youth Alive, Asian Health Services and BayWa Health described on‑the‑ground violence‑prevention work — movement arts, intensive navigation, hospital‑based intervention and cross‑community healing — and gave program outcomes and metrics tied to county funding.
Community‑based organizations presenting to the County described a range of frontline strategies they say reduce violence by meeting immediate needs, building relationships and offering culturally specific care.
Mike Lee and Tess Fai of Destiny Arts Center described 37 years of movement‑arts programming in Oakland that pairs martial arts with a ‘warrior’s code’ (love, care, respect, responsibility, honor and peace) and mentorship. Tess Fai said the program integrates trauma‑informed practice and reported that roughly 75% of youth participants are matched with mentors by the end of their first year.
Representatives from Roots Community Health outlined a place‑based ‘40 by 40’ strategy focused on Deep East Oakland and an intensive navigation model that Roots says is their largest job class (~25% of staff). Navigators create personalized care plans, perform risk‑reduction planning and connect clients to behavioral health, housing and employment; Roots presenters said 100% of their participants received personalized recovery plans and that 95% had not engaged in retaliatory violence (slide data through Sept. 30).
Dr. Joe Griffin of Youth Alive described the Calling the Crossfire hospital‑based intervention program that deploys violence interrupters and intervention specialists at trauma centers. He presented recent program metrics: in 2024, 112 hospital safety assessments and 123 survivors served; 2025 year‑to‑date, 120 safety assessments and 101 survivors served; counseling hours rose from about 2,000 in 2024 to over 3,000 in 2025 YTD. Youth Alive reported fewer than 1% of served survivors were reinjured.
Asian Health Services and BayWa Health presented the Asian‑Black Racial Healing Project, combining interviews, focus groups and a ~1,000‑respondent survey. Findings showed broad support for non‑police initial responders, expanded job and counseling programs for youth and greater investment to meet basic needs. The partners have run joint food distributions, cultural exchanges and a lay‑counselor training (about 60+ hours over ~12 weeks) to expand bilingual, community‑based mental‑health supports.
Program leaders and County staff repeatedly emphasized braided funding — ARPA, Measure C and philanthropic supports — and sustaining low‑barrier points of access. County staff said the Measure C allocation (Board‑approved Nov. 18) will fund community contracts and OVP positions and that procurements to award those contracts will occur in 2026.
Why it matters: the organizations reported concrete, measurable outcomes (mentor matching rates, counseling hours, hospital assessments, reduced retaliatory violence) that County staff and supervisors said should guide deployment of Measure C dollars and longer‑term investments.
Exchanges and follow‑ups: supervisors asked about sustainability, MOUs with trauma hospitals (Youth Alive said MOUs exist with trauma centers), how navigation length varies (Roots said an average of about 9–12 months), and how the community data trust can capture prevented incidents. Supervisors and presenters noted workforce and benefits cliff risks tied to state and federal policy changes.
