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August 11, 2017

NFL Legend Jim Brown Will Join Mayor Baraka and Community Street Team Director Aqeela Sherrills at Stream Teams Life Skills Graduation

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16 Newark youth and young adults aged 18-30 took classes to achieve academic potential, improve quality of their lives, and gain critical life management skills.

NFL legend Jim Brown will join Mayor Ras J. Baraka and Newark Community Street Team Director Aqeela Sherrills, in addressing the graduation ceremony for Newark Community Street Team members who have completed the Amer-I-Can Life Skills class, on Monday, August 14, at 5 p.m., at The Priory, located at 233 West Market Street.

The Amer-I-Can Life Skills program was founded in Los Angeles by the NFL Hall of Famer in 1988. 16 youth and young adults aged 18-30 completed the Newark program, which teaches participants to meet their academic potential, to conform their behavior to acceptable society standards and to improve the quality of their lives by equipping them with the critical life management skills to confidently and successfully contribute to society.

The Newark Community Street Team (NCST) is Mayor Baraka’s community-based violence reduction strategy. NCST deploys 16 Outreach Workers in the South Ward and West Ward sections of the city.  Through a relationship-based mentoring and case management model, the Outreach Workers engage with and recruit for services youth and young adults (ages 18-30) who are at risk of becoming either victims or perpetrators of violence. NCST also has a team of High Risk Interventionists who intervene in active street disputes and negotiate personal conflicts, diffusing tensions that are building to violence.