Families First DC​

Life Deeds currently operates the Stoddert Terrace Family Success Center, which is a community injured with crime, low education, underemployment, poor health and mental health, and families connected to the District governing agencies. Utilizing the Protective Factors and tailored programming, Life Deeds designed a program calendar packed with services and activities that addresses the needs of the participants. Life Deeds applies information gleaned from community outreach, needs assessment, community surveys, and community requests to determine staff assignments, calendar activity, partner selection, hours of operation, and overall project development.

Life Deeds developed strategies to specifically address the social lights of the community. The best practices selected were aimed to alleviate, reduce, or eradicate the detriment of family strengthening and the overall health of the community. When violence directly affected community members, Life Deeds partnered with the Metropolitan Police Department to develop a project that created a safe space for both the police officers and the community members to voice their concerns and jointly work toward a resolution. When food insecurity was realized at Stoddert Terrace, the program partnered with DC Parks and Recreation to provide daily food services to the community members. Life Deeds partnered with MBI Mental Health Services when the need for mental health resources were requested by the community. Life Deeds leans on its longstanding knowledge of societal factors that scar a community. The agency applied this knowledge to the application of service delivery to the Stoddert Terrace community. Life Deeds realized that service delivery is organic and must change to meet the desired improved outcomes for the families of the community.

For More Information Contact Us: Phone: 202.525.9220 or visit us @ 3600 B St SE Washington, DC 20019

Credible Messenger

The Credible Messenger Initiative” at the Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) is a transformative, mentoring intervention program for youth committed to the agency, with a restorative justice philosophy for young people in the community at large. The mission of the initiative is to connect all young people in the care and custody of DYRS to healthy homes and supportive communities, and to provide preventative supports to all youth in Washington D.C.

Credible messengers are neighborhood leaders, experienced youth advocates and individuals with relevant life experiences whose role is to help youth transform attitudes and behaviors around violence. They serve young people whose needs go far beyond the traditional mentoring approach of companionship, confidence-building and typical academic, social or career guidance. They are able to connect with the most challenging young people because they:

• • Come from the same communities,
  • Are formerly incarcerated or were involved in the justice system
  • Have turned their lives around
  • Demonstrate integrity and transformation
  • Are skilled and trained in mentoring young people

The guiding principles of the Credible Messenger Initiative are to:

• • Promote family and community engagement
  • Engage Parent Peer Coaches, who are Credible Messengers in their own right as they help other families navigate the justice system based on  their own involvement and family experiences
  • Connect young people to caring adults in their home neighborhood
  • Provide healthy family/community placement
  • Enhance the agency’s role in city-wide violence prevention efforts
  • Improve services to youth in the community
  • Connect youth to resources and relationships to ensure their success
  • Create job opportunities for DC residents that build on the strengths of natural community leaders (credible messengers)

Violence Intervention Initiative

Life Deeds supports, the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement’s (ONSE) Violence Intervention Initiative which is a collaborative community engagement strategy designed to support District residents in reducing gun-related violence in our communities. The initiative achieves this work by:

• Developing tactics to address potential conflicts
• Stabilizing communities following a violent conflict
• Offering support to individuals at high risk of being directly involved in violence, whether as a victim or perpetrator

This work is supported through a three-pronged approach incorporating a public health perspective and the provision of services to address residents’ physical and mental health needs. It focuses on all persons affected by violent acts, including victims, perpetrators, and their support systems/network.