2015
On Friday, July 10, Oakland Unite’s Messengers4Change will begin hosting the Friday Summer Nights Programs in East and West Oakland. These free events are open to the public and offer free food, games, entertainment and raffles for all ages. The Friday Summer Nights Programs aim to change community norms around violence through community engagement and empowerment. These programs will run every Friday for six weeks from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. The East Oakland Friday Summer Nights Program will be held at Willie Wilkins Park at 1100 98th Avenue, while the West Oakland Friday Summer Nights Program takes place on Brockhurst Street, between Market Street and San Pablo Avenue. These events are funded by Oakland Unite and the Oakland Fund for Children and Youth (OFYC). For additional event details, please visit www.OaklandUnite.org. For more information, please contact Jennifer Argueta, Community Engagement Coordinator, at [email protected] or (510) 238-2056.
2014
Beginning on Friday, July 11, the Friday Summer Nights Programs will kick off in two locations in East Oakland and one in West Oakland. The weekly programs will be held every Friday through August 15 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. at Willie Wilkins Park, 1100 98th Avenue; the Carter Gilmore Park, 1390 66th Avenue; and at the intersection of Market & Brockhurst.
These free events are open to the public and offer free food, games, entertainment and raffles for all ages. The Friday Summer Nights Programs aim to change community norms around violence through community engagement and empowerment.
These programs are modeled after the Los Angeles’ Summer Night Lights Programs and are connected to broader Oakland Unite efforts focused on gang reduction and shooting and homicide intervention and response. The programs are intended to disrupt violence by offering programming and extended park hours in neighborhoods with high rates of violence, during the peak hours when violence occurs.
The 2011 Messengers4Change initial park program evaluation shows positive results: The average number of police incidents in the Willie Wilkins Park area decreased by 48% during the three six-week periods that the events were held when compared to the average for the previous two years.
To see a list of local sponsors and learn more about the events, please read the media release at http://www2.oaklandnet.com/w/oak047899.
2013:
Friday Summer Nights at the Park are held every Friday at Carter Gilmore Park, Willie Wilkins Park and the West Oakland Teen Center (3233 Market St) between March 12th and August 16th. The event is held between 6:00 and 9:00 pm and is hosted by Oakland Unite Messengers4Change.
The events will include free food and refreshments, games for all ages and raffles. For the past two summers, Messengers4Change has hosted a six-week Friday night parks program in targeted hotspots in East Oakland as part of Mayor Quan’s Late Night Live in the Parks project. This year, Messengers4Change plans to build on the program’s success and continue to support residents taking a stand against violence. While the focus in previous years was on engaging young men, this year the broader community is invited to participate. Many Messengers4Change volunteers are Oakland residents, parents, youth and victims of violence from the neighborhood concerned about violence. These individuals come to the park and bring their friends and families because they want to support young people in their community and promote peace.
To see the event flyer, please visit http://messengers4change.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/FNL1_revised.jpg.
For more information or to learn how to get involved, please contact Jennifer Argueta, Community Engagement Coordinator, at [email protected] or (510) 238-2056.
