That’s how Jaia Harrison felt — like her voice mattered — as she walked out of the Allegheny County Courthouse with her father on a mid-June afternoon, still buzzing from her interview with Judge Dwayne Woodruff.
After seeing a boy shot a few feet from her at a haunted hayride in September 2021, she penned an essay about how gun violence touched her life. Do the Write Thing, a national program that prompts middle school students to write about the causes and effects of violence, selected her as one of 10 eighth-grade finalists across Pittsburgh to speak to the judge.
“I held my own,” Jaia said. “I didn’t feel intimidated. I felt comfortable. And I felt like this is what I want to do, this is how I can make a change.”
That feeling — and a connection she made through the program — may lead Jaia to her greatest accomplishment yet as she joins the county’s evolving network of violence prevention leaders.
She and fellow finalist Deahmi Mobley joined forces throughout the summer to begin creating an after-school program focused on ending gun violence. Researchers praise these programs because they provide safe environments where young people can connect and learn skills for navigating the emotional turmoil brought on by traumatic experiences.
Leaders at five violence prevention organizations across Allegheny County told PublicSource how they are addressing the toll of gun violence on young people’s mental health. They are providing everything from skills for processing emotions to mentorship opportunities and renewed hope for the future.
Unfortunately, the need for these programs hasn’t ebbed.
Over the past three years, Allegheny County has seen an uptick in youth gun violence, with homicide victims younger than 24 nearly doubling from 2019 through 2021.
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