In 1996, Andrew Woods begin his volunteerism efforts to reduce violence and drug use among Hartford youth.   In 1998, he enrolled in the UCONN School of Social Work to pursue his Master’s Degree with a concentration on Policy and Planning.  As a UCONN student, he interned at the State of Connecticut Legislative Office Building under the supervision of State Representative Kenneth Green. As an intern, Mr. Woods wanted to know what it would take to generate the political will to assist in the empowerment of youth and families to safeguard their communities from crime and drugs.

 To meet this objective, Mr. Woods researched what City, State, Federal and local resources were available at the time. He then planned and organized a series of youth summits over a two year period, which were hosted by State Representative Kenneth Green. Each summit focused on three points, a) to seek youth and adult input on how violence and drug use was impacting their lives and what they viewed as solutions, b) to present research compiled by Andrew Woods on the various resources available to families and youth and to educate them on additional sources of support within the community and 3) to present policy and funding recommendations that could help reduce the problems of violence and drug use in Hartford.

In June 1998, the first SAFENIGHTS HARTFORD was held at Lewis Fox Middle School and Mr. Woods was invited to join these efforts as a co-organizer. SAFENIGHTS are designed to raise awareness and educate communities on the dangers of violence and drug use and to offer solutions and alternatives to violence. These activities include workshops, basketball and jump rope tournaments, music, fun and other games. This year mark the tenth such SAFENIGHT event to be held at Lewis Fox Middle and Hartford is one of the few remaining cities that continue to sponsor this national violence and drug prevention event.

In November 1999, Barbara Maybin, Principal (former) convened a strategic planning meeting to reduce and /or prevent violence in the wake of the Hartford police shooting death of 14-year old  Aquan Salmon. Lewis Fox Middle School wanted to do something proactive and Mr. Woods, Vice Principal Angela Thomas and Rhoda Morris-Teacher, and graphic artist Anthony Mason volunteered to work with students, teachers and the community to develop a campaign against violence. This campaign later became known as the Stump the Violence Youth Leadership Institute.  During the first few years alone, Stump attracted over 1,400 youth and parents to our events and activities sponsored at Lewis Fox Middle School and Mount Sinai Hospital.

In 2002, Mayor Eddie Perez convened the Mayors Community Building Task Force focused on reducing violence among school aged youth. He appointed Chuck Cummings and Andrew Woods as co-chairs of this effort, resulting in the identification, outreach and engagement of at-risk youth in Hartford’s most troubled neighborhoods.

Then in 2003, Mayor Eddie Perez convened a meeting between representatives of the Channing Bete Company, Purdue Pharma and social scientist Richard Catalano, the co-developer of the Communities That Care (CTC) Prevention Planning Model.  This lead to an 18-month community mobilization and assessment process which resulted in a comprehensive assessment of the violence and drug prevention needs of north Hartford youth and residents. This also lead to the establishment and incorporation of Hartford Communities That Care, Inc (HCTC), and Andrew Woods as the Executive Director of the HCTC. 

In 2004, Stump youth begin to attend national youth conferences sponsored by the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA). These conferences and skills building training’s would eventually lead the Stump youth and Mr. Woods to over ten different states as trainers, participants and consultants of CADCA and other national efforts.   

The year 2004, also ushered in the creation of the Men of Color organization founded by Reverend Cornell Lewis and Reverend James Lane. The Men of Color was created in response to a morning bus stop shooting that nearly injured the school children boarding a bus. An objective of the Men of Color is to patrol schools and neighborhoods where youth are most prone to violence and drug sales. During the initial stages of this effort, Stump’s help was sought to survey youth to determine where they were most vulnerable to violent crimes such as shootings and beat downs.

In January 2005, a rash of youth shootings sparked calls for more police and intervention programs for at-risk youth. Mayor Perez sought HCTC/Stump’s help to identify the youth most inclined to be involved in such activities and to outreach, engage, provide crisis management and offer assistance and support to these youth. Over 110 youth were recruited for this initiative which became known as the Youth Engagement and Violence Intervention Initiative (YEVI).  This 18 month initiative resulted in a reduction of youth violence among Hartford’s most problematic and gang involved youth.

In 2006, Stump youth attended the CADCA-National Youth Leadership Academy, in Henderson, Nevada. At this training, they were introduced to the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) Model to address underage drinking and what it would take to secure funds to address these issues in Hartford. Shorty after our return from Nevada, HCTC and Hartford Behavioral Health (HBH) applied for and was successful in securing a three year grant from the State of Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) to address Underage Drinking using the SPF model.  We are currently into year two of this grant.

In 2007, HCTC and HBH applied for and were awarded a City of Hartford grant to address youth violence using the same strategies as those utilized under the YEVI program. Though this is now a city-wide effort, HCTC and HBH neighborhoods are primarily in north Hartford.  As with YEVI, the targeted groups are youth who are most inclined to be involved in serious violence, using weapons and are gang involved.

Other Activities to note: Stump youth flew to New Orleans to facilitate discussions to rebuild New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina.  Stump youth have visited and advocated on the Congressional, State and local policy levels. Involved with the following groups and a variety of civic engagement an skills building projects: the Ebony Horsewomen, Blue Hills NRZ, Hartford Northend Little League, Hartford Public Library,  Vine and Albany Task Force, Martin Street Cookouts, Blue Hills Clean-up’s, Ida B. Wells Senior Housing, Milner School Community Board, UCONN School of Social Work, Capital Community College and Springfield College internship opportunities, YMCA-Camp Woodstock Skills Building Retreats, Adopt-A-Park , and the Blue Hills Recreation Center.

To date, the events and training’s organized by Andrew Woods have been largely accomplished through in-kind donations of time and resources donated by various Hartford and statewide organizations. These include local merchants, the faith community, the City of Hartford, St. Francis Hospital, Hartford Behavioral Health, Alcohol & Drug Recovery Centers, Travelers, Foundation, , Price Chopper Supermarkets, Phillips Metropolitan CME Church, CVS Pharmacy, Stop and Shop, Hartford Public Library, the Robert & Margaret Patricelli Foundation, the Men of Color Initiative  and many other community based organizations and volunteers.

There have been well over 7,500 youth and parents involved in these trainings, events, and activities. In addition to Weaver High, Lewis Fox Middle and Bloomfield youth, youth from Rawson, Martin Luther King, Annie Fisher and Mark Twain elementary schools, have taken part as well. Currently, we are implementing two funded programs through our partnership with Hartford Behavioral Health, Inc.: a) The Teens in Hartford Promoting Sober Youth to address underage drinking; a State Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services funded program. B) The City of Hartford Gang Intervention program geared toward in-school and out of school youth ages 13-18 years old. Please note: in the ten years of Stump, the Stump the Violence Youth Leadership Institute has never been a funded program.