Charlotte, N.C. – Youth Advocate Programs (YAP™), Inc. has promoted Charlotte native and West Mecklenburg High School graduate Roosevelt Brooks to site supervisor of the nonprofit’s Beatties Ford Road Alternatives to Violence (ATV) team.
“I joined the YAP ATV Beatties Ford Road team to give back to the community where I was born and raised,” said Brooks, who joined YAP’s Beatties Ford Road ATV team as a violence interrupter last year. “I am excited to lead the team and help connect program participants to the tools they need in order to help combat violent behaviors along the Beatties Ford Road corridor.”
YAP became the city's first ATV service provider with the Beatties Ford Road site in 2021 as part of a partnership with the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, using the Cure Violence Global (CVG) violence interruption approach. In 2023, as part of the city and county’s expansion of the ATV program YAP was also selected to manage one of two new sites – the West Boulevard/Remount Road location.
Founded in 1975, YAP is a national nonprofit in 36 states and Washington, D.C. YAP partners with youth justice, child welfare, behavioral health, education, and other systems to deliver community-based services as an alternative to incarceration, group homes and other placements -- a service the nonprofit has provided in Mecklenburg, County since 2019. In recent years, YAP has also been combining its 49-year-old culturally responsive, evidence-based wraparound services model with public health approaches aimed at reducing violence among those at the highest risk of violence engagement.
“We are proud to have Roosevelt on board the Beatties Ford team as site supervisor,” said YAP ATV Program Manager Kwasi Amponsa. “He has displayed a relentless work ethic, being a team player and always willing to go above and beyond when opportunities arise. With his genuine love for people and community, we are confident that Roosevelt will be a great leader and ambassador of our community violence intervention work.”
The youngest of five children, Brooks says he grew up in a loving household but that he and his siblings were also exposed to drugs and guns. He said one of his four siblings was shot and killed in Charlotte in 1995 and another ended up in prison.
“I was given those speeches that this life is not for you,” Brooks said. “[My parents] told me to keep playing football and let that life take you as far as you can go. I still had to make the choice every day to choose differently, and it was those choices that saved me.”
Prior to working with YAP, Brooks worked for 23 years at a steel company where he held several positions before retiring in 2020.
“For me, when I had an opportunity to get into this work, it was a no brainer and that’s why I chose it,” Brooks said. “This is something that I wanted to do and now here is my opportunity. A lot of kids don’t understand that it is ok to say no. That can be your best answer; that answer can save your life.”
In addition to Roosevelt, the YAP Beatties Ford Road ATV team includes three frontline violence interrupters/outreach workers. The ATV team are all deeply rooted as volunteers, activists, and advocates in the Beatties Ford Road corridor. Donnell Gardner is the site supervisor of the YAP ATV West Blvd./Remount Road team.