The Second Chance Youth Program of Monterey County

It is our goal to provide healing informed approaches to the most high impacted violent neighborhoods of East Salinas and the city in general. As a local Hub of healing informed services, 2nd Chance agency goals will be the following:
Reduce youth violence, Reduce the recidivism rate of youth and adults in the probation system,
Reduce gang impacted activity, Increase the access of culturally specific healing informed opportunities for families, adults, and youth,
Increase the involvement of fathers in the lives of their families and children and increase holistic health and healing opportunities for the Greater Salinas area, with a focus on East Salinas

We will continue working to engage residents, youth and community, providing culturally based sensitive strategies through La Cultura Cura. The strategies include Xinatchli and Joven Noble, both designed to provide awareness and healing for those youth affected by violence. As a local hub of healing informed services 2nd Chance agency goals will focused on providing services to the following areas:
Provide community support circles for Parents, Men & Women, Provided gender based cultural rites of passage, Provide leadership development skills for adolescent youth, Provide gang transitional services for impacted adolescents and adults and provide community outreach to gang impacted areas.

2nd Chance is the La Cultura Cura Hub for Monterey county. The agency has institutionalized all La Cultura Cura curriculum and program models for the past 2 years, leading efforts in providing Joven Noble, Xinacthli, and Cara y Corazon services to East Salinas. Staff represent the community it serves with many of the current employees having been former clients who have successfully navigated to become local role models. 2nd Chance has over 25 years of history and service in East Salinas having created strong networks and collaborating relationships with local policy makers, law enforcement, community based organizations, and business community. 2nd Chance currently receives funding from public (city and federal), foundations, and private donations.

Since our inception, we have been working with youth, parents, law enforcement, school personnel, social workers, healthy workers, agencies, probation, other agencies, and organizations from the community-at-large in an effort to counter the growth and ever increasing influence of gangs and the spread of violence that claims the innocent lives of our youth.
We are proud to provide a myriad of culturally sensitive and specialized curriculum designed to work with troubled youth to assist them in developing values, goals and critical thinking skills that facilitate constructive changes in behavior. All of our activities are designed to take a pro-active approach to violence suppression and prevention with the intent of eliminating gang-related behavior by providing youth with positive emotional reinforcement, adult supervision, guidance, and accountability.
Though our job consists of various duties, we are a voice or those who have none. Our job goes beyond breaking up fights, doing mediation, and enforcing truces between rivalries, 2nd Chance offers the safe harbor that young people often need. It’s the positive change that needs to occur in the life of a teenager caught on the edge and in the mind trap of negative behaviors. As counselors, we offer that chance for incremental change, without judgment.
We help younger people find alternative outlets to violence, gangs, and drugs. We provide youth the change to empower themselves, set goals, and look deeply into themselves to face the underlying trauma in order to heal and be open to change. The rapport that we establish with these young people help us break that hard exterior to find diamond in the rough.
2nd Chance does exactly what its name implies: it offers youth a second chance at life without judging accusing, or pointing fingers. We embrace everyone who is willing to give us a chance. We are not just counselors but motivators, teachers, helpers, and most of all a friend. We take pride in what we do because of the passion, we have for our job, and that job is enhancing the potential in each young person we meet. On accession, we may encounter those who do not want to change, but in the end, they know we are that safe harbor they can turn to when they are ready. While 2nd Chance is the only established non-profit gang prevention/intervention and educational awareness program in Monterey County, we know we can’t do it alone. We believe in addressing youth violence as a community and believe in partnerships.