Luis Acevedo was an at-risk teenager who lived through some very, very bad events, the type of situations that he does not want today’s teens to face.
So he is doing something about it.
Acevedo, with the guidance of many of Hoboken’s leaders and the backing of the city, is the new director of Hoboken’s Save the Youth Academy.
The program provides other at-risk teens with a creative outlet and disciplined guidance, most of which is in a language they understand: hip-hop. It teaches music production and other creative arts.
Unfortunately, the program has been temporarily suspended due to the time-consuming federal paperwork process and a city budgetary crisis, even though the federal government has found the program successful enough to continually award it a series of hard-to-get grants.
While summer is a bad time for a youth program to be suspended, it should pick up again in two weeks, said John Pope, the city’s director of human services.
The organization is an offshoot of the national Save the Youth program, an anti-gang program funded by the Department of Justice.
Kid tested, Congress approved
Carmelo Garcia, who was Pope’s predecessor and is the current deputy director of the Hoboken Housing Authority, founded the program in the autumn of 2006 and has since handed over the reigns to Acevedo, whose work ethic, dedication, and connection with the teens caught Garcia’s eye.
The program was awarded its first grant in December of 2006 and was awarded another Congressional earmark in January. These awards are few and far between, and rarely continue to happen unless the program is making a difference.
“The STY program offers our young people a positive outlet for their self-expression.”
– Mayor David Roberts
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Pope has been working hard since January to complete an extensive application process for the $200,000 federal grant.
His office has been in constant communication with the Department of Justice and is expecting the money to be available in the very near future.
Roberts said, “I want to thank Senator Menendez, Senator Lautenberg, and Congressman Sires for helping to obtain the funds to help support the STY program in our community.”
“The STY program offers our young people a positive outlet for their self-expression,” he added.
The city recreation department, with the help of other donations, has been funding the program since its original grant ran out in December of 2007.
But due to the city’s budget mess, it had to suspend the program in July until it actually has the next round of forthcoming grant money in hand. Normally, the money could have temporarily come out of the city’s recreation budget, but now that the city is under state monitoring, they’d have to ask the state first.
The federal funding should be received in the next two weeks, according to what the Department of Justice told Pope.
Teaches hip-hop, music production
The after-school and summer program has serviced over 160 teens, usually bringing in as many as 30 young adults per day, with the Hudson County Boys and Girls Club offering their space and supervision to the program.
Acevedo and his team speak the language of these teens, using hip-hop as an access point to teach them life-lessons. They strive to instill “discipline, integrity, and business skills” in the teens through their activities.
They offer music composition and production courses, dance instruction, and entrepreneurial mentoring, and plan on expanding into graphic arts and video and film production this year.
They also branched out into community service this year, putting in some time with the teens at the Hoboken Homeless Shelter in May.
This past February, the group held an awards show at Hoboken High where the teens showed off the skills they’d been honing in front of an audience of roughly 500 kids and parents, including many local political figures and some celebrity artists.
They debuted a CD and DVD created with the help of instructor Miguel “Tito Grahmz” Acevedo.
Acevedo, brother to Luis, is a hip-hop artist in his own right and has an extensive background in the field, including working with rapper Akon and producing a short-lived, but high-quality hip-hop magazine called “On The Next Level.”
He enjoys providing this kind of positive guidance for the teens, since he had to create his own outlet by building a studio in his apartment in the projects complete with a vocal booth in the shower.
The program also provides field trips that the kids would not have access to otherwise, like a trip to the set of the BET show “106th and Park” where some of them won tickets to an Alicia Keys concert.
“We’re taking them out of their environment and letting them see the world,” Luis Acevedo said.
“These kids explore the world with us,” his brother added.
Our gang
“You need to allocate their time,” said Raphael Santiago, project manager. “It’s easy to fall victim to the circumstances around them if there’s no program for them.”
“We’re not charging for these programs,” Santiago added. “Our kids can’t go down the shore for the weekend.”
Luis Acevedo said, “If this program wasn’t as strong as it is, it wouldn’t keep going.”
He said that the academy appreciates the Boys and Girls Club for offering up space, but that the group would like to find space of their own in the future.
Garcia, who founded the program while serving as director of Human Services for the city in 2006, spoke highly of Acevedo and his team.
“Luis has a background with these kids. He’s a role model,” Garcia said. “They’re connecting with these kids. These guys are giving back to the community. They’ve dedicated their lives.”
“They are instructors and mentors in their own right. They can kick the knowledge to these kids,” he said.
For more information about the Save the Youth Academy, call Luis Acevedo at (914) 426-8243.
For questions or comments on this story, e-mail tcarroll@hudsonreporter.com.
The city is currently offering a variety of summer programs for kids and teens. Director of Human Services John Pope said last week that although the summer camp program is almost at capacity, there are many other activities for the summer free of charge. “This is your taxes in action,” Pope said.
The camp is a partnership with the Board of Education that provides children, 5 to 15 years old, with transportation from the high school to the various sites and activities on Mondays through Thursdays until Aug. 14.
It has been extended this year to run until 3 p.m., and lunch is included.
Mayor David Roberts said, “Our summer recreation programs are vital to families in our community. I am proud of all the wonderful opportunities we offer for the children in our city.”
“Keeping our children active in a safe and fun-filled environment is our main concern,” he added. “Summer is a wonderful time for the children of Hoboken.”
Other activities include basketball, baseball, girls’ softball, and co-ed soccer clinics, tennis, volleyball, skateboarding, gymnastics, and swimming.
For more information about the camp or activities, call Superintendent of Recreation Charlie Rozzi at (201) 420-2094 or visit online at www.hobokennj.org.
Beside these programs, the city provides a free summer lunch at various locations around town.
For more information, call Supervisor Jimmy Ronga at (201) 239-6630. – TJC