Council for Unity is an anti-gang, violence-prevention program. The goal of the program is to create a “positive gang” among students that is family-oriented. The pillars of Council for Unity are best described by the acronym F.U.S.E., which stands for Family, Unity, Self-Esteem, and Empowerment. Council classes study lessons from history: confronting racism, bigotry, and violence. Council brings representatives from every ethnic, racial, and natural grouping of students together to learn how they can collectively and individually work for unity at their school.
Council for Unity has been in existence as a gang prevention program for the last thirty four years in New York City, as well as across the country. This program has a safety model with a proven record of reducing violence and gang activity in schools and communities. It is an empowerment model where youth apply democratic principals to a program they run themselves and a unity model that brings youth from diverse cultures together in a common cause.
