After Arden Fair fights, community centers announce citywide ‘pop-up’ events for youths
In the aftermath of two incidents involving minors fighting at Arden Fair mall last week, more than a dozen community centers across Sacramento will hold free pop-up events for youths Friday through Sunday.
A total of 14 community organizations will hold 16 pop-ups, with 13 starting Friday afternoon. Activities will include video games, silent disco, basketball and other games.
The Sacramento Youth Pop-ups are being sponsored by Sierra Health Foundation, and they were announced Thursday afternoon during a joint press conference with Mayor Darrell Steinberg and other City Council members and community leaders.
Pop-up locations will include the Boys and Girls Club on Lemon Hill Avenue and the Greater Sacramento Urban League, among many others.
Steinberg spoke of the community’s responsibility to make “smart investments in our young people” and provide “safe, enriching activities” for youths. He said the passage of Measure U, a half-cent tax, will make funding for these programs more feasible.
“Let us be honest, however, and acknowledge that we have so much more work to do together,” Steinberg said during Thursday’s press conference at the Greater Sacramento Urban League in Del Paso Heights. “Why are programs so limited in our city with so many long waiting lists? Why are the great nonprofits, many of them represented here today, so stretched for funding? Why is it that this kind of pop-up event is one day instead of every day?”
Activist Berry Accius, founder of a nonprofit called Voices of Youth, also spoke at Thursday’s conference. Accius said that while he agrees with Steinberg’s message, it is important not to label what happened at Arden Fair as “brawls.”
“We cannot criminalize our young people,” Accius said. “We cannot arrest our way out of this issue. We must understand our young people are crying out for help. And we must be the help.”
Sierra Health Foundation is a private organization that awards grants to nonprofits and public agencies in 26 Northern California counties, according to its website.
Sierra Health President Chet Hewitt said the groups hope to attract about 1,000 young people this weekend.
“Our kids are sending us a message, and when your children speak to you, you should listen,” Hewitt said. “Because if the city doesn’t offer them any alternative and anything else to do, then they will find something to do of their own accord, and it might not always be what’s best for them or what’s best for our community. That’s part of what being a young person, being a child, is all about.”
Steinberg in a written statement Sunday suggested Arden Fair may need to consider at least a temporary ban on unaccompanied minors at the mall. In that statement, he also said many students turn to fighting during long breaks from school. Most public K-12 school districts resume instruction on Monday.
The Arden mall instituted a minor ban after similar fights broke out there during the December 2016 holiday season. Dozens of police officers and extra security personnel were stationed at the mall’s entrances to keep unchaperoned kids out.
The American Civil Liberties Union and local NAACP chapter opposed the 2016 ban on minors, and Steinberg at the time asked the city attorney to evaluate whether it was constitutional.
There were no reported large-scale fights at the mall during the 2017 holiday season, and no such ban was instituted at Arden Fair.
Fight incidents involving more than 100 juveniles broke out at Arden Fair Dec. 26 and last Saturday, with mall spokesman Nathan Spradlin saying that the fights were planned days in advance on social media.
Rumors circulated on social media that another round of fights would emerge at the Delta Shores shopping center in South Sacramento on Monday, leading to heavy police presence that day. A smaller incident, involving about 20 minors, broke out Tuesday, Sacramento Police Department spokesman Marcus Basquez said.
Sacramento Youth Pop-ups
Friday
- Asian Resources, 5100 El Paraiso Ave., 3-8 p.m.
- Boys and Girls Club, 5212 Lemon Hill Ave., 4-8 p.m.
- Dr. Ephraim Williams Family Life Center, 4036 14th Ave., 7-10 p.m.
- Foothill Skate Inn, 4700 Auburn Blvd., 6-9 p.m.
- Greater Sacramento Urban League, 3725 Marysville Blvd., 5-9 p.m.
- Hmong Youth and Parents United, 631 Eleanor Ave., 6-9 p.m.
- Iu-Mien Community Services, 5625 Stockton Blvd., 3-9 p.m.
- Maple Nieghborhood Center, 3301 37th Ave., 4-8 p.m.
- MLK Tech Academy, 3051 Fairfield St., 4-9 p.m.
- Sam Pannell Community Center, 2450 Meadowview Road, 5-10 p.m.
- Self Awareness and Recovery, 4625 44th Street, Room 22, 4-10 p.m.
- Simmons Community Center, 25 Massie Court, 5-10 p.m.
- Sol Collective, 2574 21st Street, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Saturday
- Voice of The Youth at Fruitrdige Collaborate, 4625 44th Street, 6 p.m.
- Hmong Youth and Parents, 4-8 p.m.
Sunday
- Hmong Youth and Parents, 4-8 p.m.
This story was originally published January 3, 2019 at 5:32 PM.
