PVF’s Executive Director, James Higa, recently sat down with Fresh Lifelines for Youth (FLY)’s Founder and CEO, Christa Gannon, to check in about FLY’s progress over the last year.

Offering legal education, leadership training, and one-on-one mentoring, FLY aims to prevent juvenile crime and incarceration, and the nonprofit serves more than 1,000 probation and at-risk youth and 1,000 middle school youth at risk of system involvement.

One of FLY’s programs is the Law Program, which teaches youth who are involved in or at risk of becoming involved in the juvenile justice system about the law and consequences of crime. The semester-long course is taught in Santa Clara, San Mateo, and Alameda County schools, community centers, and juvenile facilities. Using role-play, debates, and mock city council hearings, FLY’s nationally recognized curriculum builds skills such as anger management, problem solving, communication, and resisting negative peer pressure.

In 2016, FLY served over 200 at-risk youth through this program, with consistent results—over 80% of youth each year report that “because of FLY, they are now inspired to change, they have increased access to positive role models, the ability to solve problems without violence or crime, and hope for their future, and they are less likely to break the law.”

There is an increased need for these kinds of services in San Mateo County, and FLY is doing important work to break the cycle of crime and incarceration. PVF is proud to support that work.