Darlene Saechao, a senior at John F. Kennedy High School in Nystrom, used to be shy. Today, she is one of seven outspoken leaders in Richmond’s pioneering Martin Luther King Jr. Youth Council working to promote safe communities and positive youth development.
In a city with high rates of violence, drug use and truancy among adolescents, the Youth Council represents young people from across Richmond as they join forces to address these challenges. “We want the same thing for our community,” Darlene said, a “better place to stay, peace, no violence, youth that are going to college, being successful instead of being in the streets.”
Since it formed in the spring of 2008, the award-winning council has created safe spaces for youth through events like a Dance for Health, Peace in the City Talent Show and Youth Picnic. Council members also promote youth-friendly neighborhood improvements by advising on local planning issues: They are currently evaluating the success of community-based charter schools and weighed in on the renovation of Nystrom’s Martin Luther King Jr. Park earlier this year.
Participants also aid their communities through direct service. In November and December alone, the Youth Council served Thanksgiving meals to low-income families, participated in a peace march for a young rape victim and wrapped gifts for disadvantaged children.
Council leaders hope to not only improve Richmond’s neighborhoods but also to be role models for local youth – or just lend an ear. “I am here to help anyone in need, with class work, or any youth who is looking for direction,” member Arthur Johnson wrote in the Youth Council’s first newsletter, issued in September.
Council members lead by example. Some “used to be one of those kids, just being in the streets, but as they were growing up, they thought more about...their community,” according to Darlene.
Now, members work regularly with community leaders and top city officials. Some have applied to join the city’s Youth Commission. Darlene – who became a founding member of the Youth Council after taking part in Y-PLAN – an initiative that engages Kennedy High School youth in local planning projects – will travel to Cuba with the mayor’s official delegation.
“I see growth in them every day,” said Theodus Jerome Dixon, an Americorps member based at the Richmond Children’s Foundation who mentors the Youth Council. “They’re really receptive to responsibility…They want to take on a leading role in the community.”
Being part of the Council gives members a safe space for discussion and a support network to take on personal challenges, as well as activism. “Since I’m not really close to my family, I can have somewhere to go to be close and just talk about whatever happens,” Darlene said. “[The Youth Council] feels like a family that I always wanted to have.”
Local leaders would be wise to listen to youth voices, according to Dixon. “This sounds cliché, but they are our future – we have to hear what their needs are,” Dixon said. “For these kids to allow us into their lives, we should be grateful for that and pay close attention.”
