CURYJ Unveils Groundbreaking ‘Youth Power Zone’ for Justice-Impacted Young People in Oakland’s Fruitvale Village
On Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024 at 12:30pm, Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ) hosted the grand opening of the organization’s new Youth Power Zone in Oakland’s Fruitvale Village—a new development that will house the organization’s youth development leadership programs, a multicultural conference and event center, and a future rec center and cafe where justice-impacted youth can get hands-on workforce and entrepreneurial experience, among other amenities. Above the Youth Power Zone is 181 units of 100% affordable housing, administered by The Unity Council.
“Our Youth Power Zone isn’t just a new building, it’s a beacon of hope and transformation for the most vulnerable in our community,” said George Galvis, executive director of CURYJ. “By creating a space where justice-impacted youth can learn, lead, and grow, we’re not only investing in their futures but in the very fabric of our community. From job training to affordable housing, this project embodies our vision of replacing systems that perpetuate trauma with ones that foster healing and opportunity.”
CURYJ trains formerly incarcerated youth to lead and advocate for their communities through life coaching, professional development, political education and hands-on entrepreneurial and campaign experience.
Chris Iglesias, CEO of The Unity Council, which is administering the housing units above the Youth Power Zone said, “At the Unity Council, we are thrilled to welcome CURYJ to their new home in the Fruitvale neighborhood. Partnering with them through the Youth Power Zone at Fruitvale Station embodies our commitment to fostering empowerment and positive change for our youth. Together, we look forward to making a lasting impact on our community.”
In 2020, CURYJ launched its Youth Power Zone campaign to counteract policies like gang injunctions that disempower young people of color. This initiative builds on CURYJ’s founding mission to challenge unjust practices that allow police to harass young people and strip them of their civil liberties.
These zones are envisioned as comprehensive alternatives to traditional systems of policing and incarceration, uplifting and honoring all youth as sacred. They are spaces that promote power, belonging, and healing. The Youth Power Zone in Fruitvale will serve as a model for community-led healing justice that reduces youth incarceration in Alameda County with the ultimate vision of ending youth incarceration and expanding the approach across the state and the nation.
CURYJ has now acquired three sites around the Fruitvale BART station that comprise the Youth Power Zone: the soon-to-open CURYJ main office in the Casa Sueños new construction at the intersection of E. 12th Street & 35th Ave., the Bonanza building at Internationational and 36th Ave., and most recently the takeover of the Department of Violence Prevention site for violence interruption work in the Fruitvale Transit Village corridor.
Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice
Donate now!www.curyj.org
(707) 477-5600
Director of Development: Jessica Miller
Mission
CURYJ was born when our co-founders set out to defeat the Fruitvale gang injunction, a pre-emptive “restraining order” that gave cops the right to harass young people of color and strip them of their civil liberties. In the years since defeating the injunction, CURYJ has worked nonstop in coalitions and partnerships to fight against policies that criminalize youth and to craft policy that invests in our communities.
Begin to Build a Relationship
We know you care about where your money goes and how it is used. Connect with this organization’s leadership in order to begin to build this important relationship. Your email will be sent directly to this organization’s Director of Development and/or Executive Director.
We share a long-standing, meaningful relationship and know that our enduring partnership will now bear fruit. The Youth Power Zone, grounded in a commitment to racial solidarity and radical community transformation, will not only bring vital services and programs to Oakland youth, but will be a safe space that’s both nurturing and inspirational.
Invest in Ending Unfair Youth Criminalization
Communities United for Restorative Justice (CURYJ) recently opened a physical personification of its mission in its first building, the Youth Power Zone at Fruitvale Station, the fruition of 14 years of hard work and dedication. CURYJ considers it the first building-block of community infrastructure that will help realize the end to youth incarceration in California during our lifetimes.
Any donation will help to develop Building Two of their Youth Power Zone, which will serve as a resource space for youth as well as a Climate Resilience Hub for the Fruitvale community.
Key Supporters
The California Endowment
Sierra Health Foundation
Quinn Delaney
San Francisco Foundation
Akonadi Foundation
Kresge Foundation
The City of Oakland
Department of Violence Prevention