Program designed to steer kids from violence expands to Cleveland neighborhood

The Safety Unit is expanding to another Cleveland neighborhood; its mission is to steer kids away from a life of crime.

News 5 Investigators first told you about The Safety Unit earlier this month, the same day we showed you a startling video from a gas station shootout at Lee Road and Miles Avenue.

After Labor Day, the Safety Unit moved into the Central neighborhood on the city’s East Side.

It will be working closely with East Tech High School students.

One mom, whose children are already working with the group, says she sees a difference at home.

Brenda Newsome’s 15-year-old son, Sincere, is in The Safety Unit with his 12-year-old brother.

“Unknowingly, my 12-year-old was the one with the behavioral problem; he needed to be in the program,” Newsome said.

She wants them to be prepared for anything in life. What scares her is the gun violence in Cleveland.

“It’s real scary because you never know a stray bullet, intentional bullet, just kids wanting to jump somebody,” Newsome said.

Just days ago, a boy the same age as Sincere was critically wounded in a shooting while riding in a stolen KIA.

15-year-old critically wounded in overnight shooting

Something Kareem Smith knows about firsthand after experiencing gun violence himself.

“It hurt my heart, me being a victim of gun violence twice, right?” Smith said.

Earlier this month, News 5 Investigators looked inside The Safety Unit’s summer boot camp in Cleveland's Mt. Pleasant neighborhood.

Smith, the lead coordinator, says some had family members in a gas station shootout just days earlier.

'It’s outrageous': Gas station shooting caught on camera; third shooting in 1 week

"They all seen what’s happening in their community that shootout that happened at the gas station, and a lot of them was traumatized by that,” Smith said on Aug. 6.

On this day, we met back up with Smith in the Central neighborhood, where the group’s focus will be on East Tech High School.

“We’re not teachers but we’re also not law enforcement we are the uncles brothers and fathers of the community,” Smith said.

The Safety Unit is a violence prevention and intervention program that works with teen boys. It’s one of 14 organizations and programs awarded $1 million in grant money this year through the Cleveland Neighborhood Safety Fund.

The fund was established in 2023 by the city, city council and the Cleveland Foundation.

According to the Cleveland Foundation, The Safety Unit received a $130,000 grant.

The Safety Unit works closely now with several CMSD schools.

“It’s very exciting to expand to the Central neighborhood,” Smith said.

Smith says they’ll help students get safely to and from school and resolve differences that may spill outside the walls.

“The problem at the schools most of the time is not the students, it's what happens between the students that gets carried on outside of the school,” Smith said.

They’ll track students at home, too, and build a rapport with parents.

“To find out what the children need because we know a lot of the kids are carrying a trauma from home,” Smith said.

Newsome sees this as a boys-to-men program that teaches responsibility.

“It gave them something to do and something to look forward to also,” Newsome said.

And she says she’s seeing a difference in her kids.

“They’re doing better at home. They come in and take the trash out. I don't got to say nothing. They come do their chores, come sit down, do their homework. 'Ma, You need anything?” Newsome said.

Smith says he grew up in foster care and has been in the juvenile detention system.

He shares his story with the kids to show how there are consequences for your actions and to be accountable.

News 5 Investigators plan to follow through with them throughout the year to see how the program works.

The Cleveland Foundation says for the 2024 round of grantmaking, the Neighborhood Safety Fund committee utilized data including recent violent crime trends, as evidenced by health indicators and local police data over the past three or more years, to prioritize proposals with services located in the Buckeye-Woodland, Central, Kinsman/Union Miles, Mt. Pleasant, and St. Clair-Superior neighborhoods.

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