Catalyst CT's StreetSafe Bridgeport
With an emphasis on safety, StreetSafe professionals with lived experience guide young adults in Bridgeport to improve emotional regulation and prosocial skills to attain self-sufficiency through education, trades, and career development.
“We come up with ideas about how we can make the work better. We’re doing it for the kids at the end of the day.” Over the last year, Troy Owens, an Outreach Worker at Catalyst CT’s StreetSafe Bridgeport, and other team members have been working with CTOP to redesign their program to more effectively serve young people involved in community violence in Bridgeport.
As StreetSafe’s target population narrowed in focus to Bridgeport’s hardest-to-reach young people facing the greatest challenges, Troy’s perspective and experience as an Outreach Worker was crucial. “CTOP actually asked me for my ideas, and to share my experiences. My confidence shifted because now, I feel more capable sharing my ideas and how this change is affecting the program and how I’m going to make it better.”
Troy’s strategy in engaging young people evolved as he learned more in the workshops and as his confidence in his own expertise grew. He says, “I knew I would have to take a different approach with the different population, because… they’re not willing yet to trust and establish rapport [with me]. But with relentless outreach, I keep tracking them down; they don’t come around at first. It’s hard, but it is worth it in the end when you actually make that connection.”
“Now, the way I plan [is different].” Troy adds, reflecting on how the redesign has informed his tactics when he connects with young people on his caseload. “I go back to my notes to see what happened in our last interaction, then I meet them where they’re at. Based on that, I work on a certain skill and think about what can I do today with this kid that’s going to benefit him in his life presently.”
“Before I used to do things for the kids. Now, I’m doing it with more intention on teaching them how to be independent on their own,” he continues. “It’s like I’m giving them a helping hand, but I’m also giving them these skills or direction on how they can be doing this for themselves.” As a result, Troy’s young people are not only building trust with him but building skills that will help them succeed in work and school on their own.
“I feel like we are building a stronger foundation from the bottom up,” Troy says as he thinks about his team’s work over the last year. “We’ve been doing the work, but [CTOP] laid the structure down for us and helped us build other components that will strengthen what we already do for our young people.”