Terrence's* Story at CTVIP
Connecticut Violence Intervention and Prevention (CTVIP) is a group of trusted, trained community members that disrupt, prevent, and stop the spread of violence which results in trauma through crisis intervention and proactive relationships with the highest-risk youths and the institutions that impact their lives in the Greater New Haven area.
At age 13, Terrence began to get into trouble. And by 15, he was incarcerated. “It was hard to adjust,” he reflects back on his life in detention. One day, he received a mail slip that had Connecticut Violence Intervention and Prevention’s (CTVIP) logo on it. His mom let him know that someone named Tiger wanted to talk. Although hesitant and unsure, Terrence gave Tiger a chance. “I’m not the type of person to open up and tell someone my personal business and what I’ve been through, but after a couple conversations with Tiger it felt natural – like he’d been there my whole life. He told me what he had gone through, and I finally had someone who could understand.”
Tiger invested in Terrence: calling often, adding funds to the phone account, checking in on how he and his family were doing, and helping him to think about and plan for life beyond incarceration. In these conversations, Tiger used cognitive-behavioral skills to start helping Terrence to change his perspective. They worked on how to be present, identify his feelings, expand his emotional vocabulary, and shift his thinking to see life in a more positive way. “Step by step, I started to see how this could help me…I got comfortable with being uncomfortable.”
Terrence is on a different path and not looking back. He says, “Tiger is my go-to person. Anytime I have a problem, I think about my resources first, how far I’ve come, what I have to lose, the pros and cons…I have a support system like no other.”
Now at 19 years old, Terrence is a high school graduate, employed, and enjoying the opportunity to give back to his community by sharing his story with young people all over Connecticut to help them find themselves and a path forward that avoids the mistakes he made. He says, “If I can help one person change, I feel like I did a lot.”
And staff at CTVIP think so too. They are starting a junior Violence Intervention Professional program, and Terrence will be a program leader because of his commitment to young people disconnected from work and school or at-risk of becoming so in New Haven.
“We look forward to his greatness,” Tiger says with a wise smile.
*This story uses a pseudonym.