Pathway 2 Purpose: Empowering Long Beach Youth

Support for foster and systems-impacted youth

Long Beach

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

Youth are disproportionately affected by poverty and violent crime in Long Beach. Unfortunately, one in three youth ages 5 to 17 in Long Beach live in poverty. This carries into early adulthood: the 21% unemployment rate of young adults is triple the overall unemployment rate in the city, and 50% of murder victims and 43% of assault with a deadly weapon victims in Long Beach are young adults. The city has recently experienced an increase in violent crimes involving youth, including high-profile incidents like large brawls involving teens and a rise in stabbings and shootings. Involvement in the juvenile justice and foster care systems further increases youths’ risk of experiencing violence and cycles of poverty. The team at Welcome Home knows the impacts of poverty and violence in this community all too well. Growing up in Long Beach, we also faced challenges in childhood that led to incarceration. We now use our experiences to support other system-impacted youth.

Welcome Home Oasis provides a unique curriculum of positive youth development programming for systems-impacted youth ages 11 to 17 called Pathway 2 Purpose. Twice a week for eight weeks, local youth gather with our credible messenger mentors to participate in courses on a variety of positive youth development topics such as entrepreneurship, financial literacy, anger management, and substance use prevention.
We begin by introducing principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), which helps youth identify and change unhelpful thought patterns, behaviors, and emotional responses. As part of our focus on gang prevention, we also engage in mediation: bringing young members of local gangs together to foster empathy and reduce violence. Our days of service (volunteering) and prosocial activities help youth build community and introduce them to a healthy lifestyle.
Pathway 2 Purpose is a safe and supportive environment where youth can be themselves. We use evidence-based models such as CBT and credible messenger mentorship to guide them towards responsible decision-making. Our programming is culturally competent and honors the communities of Long Beach. Support from LA2050 would help us continue uplifting some of the most at-risk youth in the Los Angeles region toward a better future.

We aim to create a measurable shift in outcomes for system impacted youth marked by increased educational attainment, reduced involvement in the justice system, and stronger pathways to employment and leadership. Our vision is to build a generation of empowered, purpose-driven young people who are equipped with the tools, mentorship, and opportunities needed to break cycles of incarceration, poverty, and systemic inequity. Through our Pathway 2 Purpose program, we hope to foster a scalable model that centers community-led, trauma-informed, and culturally relevant support for system impacted young people. In the longer term, we plan to expand our programming beyond our initial neighborhoods in Long Beach to reach more youth across Los Angeles County, partnering with schools, community organizations, and local governments to embed our model into broader youth development strategies.