Violence interrupters help at-risk rural North Carolina youth find a better path
ROBESON COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- The North Carolina Youth Violence Prevention Center is working specifically in rural areas to do exactly what its name suggests -- prevent youth violence.
One tactic they use is the Violence Interrupter Unit. The unit works with local law enforcement and schools in areas, like Robeson County, to connect directly with young people.
Those who work in the unit -- known as interrupters -- have experience and respect in these communities. This allows them to better understand and communicate with kids who might be struggling and heading toward violence.
"I did 15 years in federal prison, and I came home, and I wanted to do something in a positive sense," one violence interrupter, Leon Burden, told ABC11. "I feel that a lot of my past is what makes it so easy for me to deal with all the kids that I deal with every day."
Burden has dedicated nearly the last two decades of his life to making sure kids who are at risk know there's another path.
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"Interrupters" backgrounds are across the board. Burden said there's a former police officer and a former football coach.
"We all get together, and we listen to what the problem is," he said. "We get phone calls letting us know what's going on in different areas. If something is going wrong, we go out and try to talk to the people that might be committing the crimes."
Burden has been doing this work long enough to know that it really can make a difference in a kid's life.
"These are our future leaders," he said. "Some of them end up going to college, also end up going in the military, turn their lives around in positive senses, doing great things."
Burden said that it's a community effort to help kids, but it does mean the world to him when he sees a kid succeed after working with them.
"It brings tears to my eyes knowing that everything I've done to help someone else did not just go to waste," he said.
To any kid who struggling: Burden said he wants them to know there are people out there who will invest in them. They will help them on the road to success.
"I like to say to every youth that under the sound of my voice, to know that I love you. You are somebody," he said. "You don't have to be a part of a gang. You don't have to be bullied."
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