Choking back tears and covering his face to hide emotion, a student at West Mesa High School was thrilled to be getting a new pair of shoes Friday evening.
Just after 5 p.m., a handful of students and adults gathered in the school’s library. They were greeted with stacks of new shoes of all sizes from Foot Locker, and treated to Papa John’s Pizza, sandwiches from Firehouse Subs, and other snacks.
The event was hosted by the City of Albuquerque’s School-Based Violence Intervention Program, which is aimed to help divert students from cycles of trauma, violence and addiction.
“Our approach is to use a trauma informed, compassionate public health response to help pull people out of cycles of violence, who are experiencing trauma, and are in that survival mode,” said Jeffery Bustamante, the Deputy Director of Violence Prevention and Intervention.
The school-based program provides students with peer mentors, academic support and therapeutic support to address their needs.
“We’re strong believers that for many in our community, if you start helping them heal, to address their immediate needs, that is some of the most important work to help divert people from those acts of violence,” Bustamante said.
The school-based program began in Nov. 2022. So far they have helped 27 families, said Bustamante.
“From our original nine students, we’ve had about an 85% reduction in major offenses and a significant reduction in minor offenses. In addition to that, we’ve seen GPA’s increase, we’ve seen attendance increase. We’ve been able to provide support to a lot of families, whether that’s rental assistance, fun events, or heartwarming events like tonight,” he said.
The VIP is funded by the WK Kellogg Foundation seed grant program, and falls under Albuquerque’s Community Safety department. Bustamante said there’s a lot of questions in Albuquerque regarding the amount of violence in the community.
“I’m proud to be part of the city’s effort to address this head-on,that the city wants to take on these challenges directly, and provide the support that the community needs,” Bustamante said.
West Mesa High School is the pilot school for the program, but they’ve expanded the school based program recently to Robert F. Kennedy middle and high schools.
Michele Torres, principal of West Mesa High School said the program really does a great job at helping kids who have struggles outside of school. Students are referred to the program, and there’s an intake process.
“We visit the classroom, and when they’re in there, and we just work with them as closely as we can,” she said.
The program, Torres said, is really helpful.
“We like having the extra support for the students for sure,” she said.