Project STOP is a program that was founded in 1991 by Roy Alvarado, a former drug & gang counselor at Newport Mesa Unified School District. The program was designed specifically for young Latinos/Latinas who are or may be influenced by the gangs in the Orange County communities. Project STOP group consists of 10-20 at-risk youth who are encouraged to support each other and participate in a peaceful anti-gang events where they can learn about the alternatives and consequences to gang membership. After Roy Alvarado's passing in 1995, Pepe Montenegro, sharing Alvarado's vision, stepped up to maintain the legacy of Project STOP.
We desire to support & encourage young people to become the best they can be, and to supply the tools for youth to obtain success regardless of any and all obstacles they will face.
It focuses on youth in gangs or those at risk of gang involvement. The program is designed to get and keep kids out of gangs. We can achieve this by placing emphasis on the following:
1. Encourage High School Graduation among at-risk youth
2. Make at-risk youth aware of the need to attend and complete college
3. Encourage youth to live a life that will decrease Teen Pregnancy
4. Challenge at-risk youth to becoming warriors of peace and decrease violence
5. Increase employment among at-risk youth
Project STOP is dedicated to offering solutions to gang members and at-risk youth by providing gang intervention and diversion programs that deal with culture-specific dynamics of the gang world. Youth will be empowered and trained to access existing resources to better equip themselves to address their needs. The program will target issues of anger management, dysfunctional family issues, alcohol and drug recovery, and issues that contribute to gang involvement.
In order to decrease crime and gang membership, the group educator presents a specific curriculum to address issues relating to gang involvement. the format consists of aggressive yet flexible approaches that will educate, inform, empower, assist and support the gang members in creating the proper strategies to address their respective problems. It is imperative that the intervention with this population be specific to the gang culture and appropriate to the lifestyle within the particular peer group. Collaborative efforts will be made with (a) Families, (b) Schools, (c) Churches, (d) Community Based Organizations, (e) Police, (f) Youth Organizations, (g) Rehabilitation Centers/Shelters, (h) Juvenile Institutions/Probation/Courts, and (i) Local/Current Gangs
A team approach is essential to creating a comprehensive intervention. Most interventions need to be multi-faced and multi-dimensional in order to be complete and at a level of aggressiveness appropriate to the subject population.
Project STOP operates on the philosophy that prevention begins with 4th thru 6th graders and that intervention should used for middle and high school youth. Interventions must be ongoing and should include parental and familial involvement. We use familial and/or legal approaches in our work with kids that are resistant to the program.
Joseph "Pepe" Montenegro was trapped in the gang lifestyle of the L.A. barrios until a tragic turn of events forced him to choose between the path that leads to destruction or to one of hope and success. Pepe chose success. He entered a rehabilitation program at the young age of 15 1/2 and after 9 months he graduated and spent 3 1/2 more years in a re-entry program facility. He attended school and eventually graduated from South Hills High School in West Covina. He later attended the Latin American Bible College and La Salle University where he later received his B.S. degree. He is currently working toward a M.S. in Clinical Psychology.
Pepe has spoken to thousands of youth from the inner cities of the United States, Europe, and Mexico. He has worked with gang members and drug addicts for over 22 years. Presently, he is the "Gang Outreach Counseling Coordinator" for the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and Director of Project STOP, as well as a speaker/trainer for the Hispanic Ministry Center.
