Last year, COMPASS Peacebuilders built transformative relationships with 213 Hartford youth living in a cycle of violence. We provided them with the life-saving skills they need not just to survive but to thrive.

Youth like Jose. When Jose came to COMPASS, he had no direction. He had lost his mother to drugs; his father was not in his life.  Jose was couch surfing, staying with friends one night and at a sister’s the next. There was no stability in his life; he lived a lifestyle that put him at the center of violence.

That is when Peacebuilder Anthony Pearl came into Jose’s life.

Trust did not come easily to Jose; many people had disappointed him. But Anthony was relentless; he knew to gain Jose’s trust, he had to be there for him. And that is just what Anthony did; he showed up.

COMPASS provided Jose with a place he could feel safe and with people he could trust. Jose reconnected to school and began developing positive work skills. Through COMPASS, Jose became a certified phlebotomist and learned how to code. Jose went on to get a job using his new coding skills.

Jose still has a lot of work to do; it hasn’t been a straight line. But for the first time in his life, Jose can visualize a future.

Hartford is full of young men like Jose, young men living in a cycle of violence. Unfortunately, not all of them have a Peacebuilder like Anthony Pearl.

We need your help reaching more youth like Jose. Please donate today.