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Youth Empowerment Center News

NEW YORK, NY-- June 14, 2005 -- Gateway founder and former Chairman Ted Waitt today announced the creation of the Waitt Institute for Violence Prevention, an unprecedented new operating foundation dedicated to reducing family and community violence. Surrounded by athletes and youth, Waitt made the announcement at a Family Violence Prevention Fund Founding Fathers event in New York City. Waitt, who chairs the Founding Fathers Campaign, has directed $10 million to the new Institute, positioning it to be a leading organization in the prevention of violence and domestic abuse.

Ted Waitt’s commitment to stopping domestic and community violence is not new. Over the past five years, the Waitt Family Foundation has given some $7 million to efforts to prevent violence in our homes, schools and communities. These earlier violence prevention grants are informing the approaches the new Institute will take.

“Domestic violence can touch any family and any community,” Institute Chairman Ted Waitt said. “Stopping violence is, quite simply, the greatest challenge facing our country and our world today. It is the greatest threat to our public health, the gravest threat to children, and the biggest obstacle to the economic development we need to lift up the next generation. I was lucky. I grew up in a loving home with caring, compassionate parents. I want every child to be able to say the same. If we put resources into this problem, I believe we can make a real difference.”

The Waitt Institute for Violence Prevention will be the leading partner in “The Sioux City Project,” a multi-million dollar community-based violence prevention effort based in the tri-state Sioux City area of Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. With guidance from national and local experts, the Waitt Institute for Violence Prevention will take a four-pronged approach to breaking the cycle of violence using four tested strategies that have never before been combined. They are: providing early support and intervention for young families at risk for violence; supporting young families and children who have witnessed violence; helping young people build healthy relationship skills; and engaging the community in public education campaigns designed to make violence of all kinds unacceptable.

“ It is our hope and expectation that, by focusing significant resources and expertise on violence prevention in one community, the Waitt Institute for Violence Prevention will develop a model that others around the country and the world can replicate,” said Institute Executive Director Cindy Waitt, a Sioux City resident.

For five years, the Waitt Family Foundation, in partnership with the Family Violence Prevention Fund (FVPF) and The Advertising Council, has funded the groundbreaking public education campaign, Coaching Boys Into Men, to encourage men to help stop domestic violence. During that time, Waitt has served as National Chairman of the FVPF’s Founding Fathers Campaign, which recruits business executives, community leaders, fathers, uncles, coaches and others to take a stand against violence.

At today’s event, the Family Violence Prevention Fund released its Coaching Boys into Men Playbook. Its premise is that coaches have a unique relationship with their players, making them ideal messengers to promote healthy attitudes towards women and girls. The Playbook is designed to help coaches deliver messages about treating women and girls with respect. The Waitt Family Foundation provided funding for it. Its Father’s Day launch featured former NBA coach and player M.L. Carr, New York Giants receiver Amani Toomer and his father, New York Knicks Head Coach Herb Williams, and leaders in sports and athletics.

“As a family, we are deeply committed to helping other families and individuals change their lives and build stronger futures,” Cindy Waitt said. “This new initiative is very important to us and will be a cornerstone of our work.

Previously, the Waitt Family Foundation has invested nationally in violence prevention projects in: Albuquerque; Boston; Newport (Tennessee); San Diego; Sioux City; and Springfield (Massachusetts). In San Diego, Foundation grants went to the groundbreaking Family Justice Center, a "one stop shop" for victims of family violence and their children; Becky’s House I and II, transitional homes for victims of domestic violence; and the San Diego Domestic Violence Council. In Siouxland, grants have supported the Mentors in Violence Program (MVP) run by Dr. Jackson Katz; a relationship and anti-bullying education campaign in Sioux City’s high schools and middle schools; and the Council on Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence. The Foundation has also partnered with The Institute for Community Peace, a national organization dedicated to community-based violence prevention training, education and outreach. For more information on the Waitt Institute for Violence Prevention and its violence prevention activities, click here.

The Waitt Family Foundation – Helping Good People do Great Things
The Waitt Family Foundation was established by Gateway Founder Ted Waitt in 1993 and is headquartered in La Jolla, California. The Foundation relies on a “Past, Present, Future” approach to grant making. The Foundation believes that by understanding the past -- how we’ve gotten to where we are --we can do a better job of dealing with our problems today. And by anticipating what might be on the horizon tomorrow, we can help prepare for a better world.

More than $360 million has been contributed toward the Foundation’s efforts, placing Waitt, as chairman of the foundation, on Business Week’s list of the 50 most generous philanthropists in America. The Foundation is led by its President, John Heubusch.

The Waitt Institute for Violence Prevention
The Waitt Institute for Violence Prevention is a private operating foundation committed to researching the causes and effects of violence and to breaking the cycle of violence in our homes and communities. Working with national and local partners, the Institute uses a community-based approach to violence prevention. The Institute is led by its Executive Director, Cindy Waitt.
http://www.waittinstitute.org

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Youth Empowerment
Lorraine Bowman, President
4249 Manzanita Drive
San Diego, California 92105
info@empowering-youth.org