‘A productive form of expression.’ Pop-up events across Sacramento give youth an alternative

A year after a post-holiday brawls broke out at the Arden Fair mall, involving more than a 100 youths, city leaders decided to take a different tact in hopes of relieving Sacramento’s largest mall from patterns of violence that plague it during the holiday season.

Their answer: a citywide network of pop-up events spearheaded by Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and the Sierra Health Foundation that engage kids in activities — such as laser tag, bingo night, video games and basketball — that are organized by their peers and community organizations to engage youth in their own neighborhoods.

“These investments make a big difference because young people deserve opportunities to be in safe and enriching places and have all the opportunities I know I had as a young person. ... These are essential investments,” said Mayor Darrell Steinberg. “This is the promise of Measure U in action, and the commitment is not just during the holidays when people are paying attention to some of the potential trouble. This is a year-round commitment.”

The citywide pop-ups are hosted by 23 organizations and take place in neighborhoods across the capital region from Foothill Farms to Valley Hi and Meadowview, often drawing kids and teens to cross neighborhood lines.

Mervin Brookins, CEO of Brother to Brother, a community organization based in Del Paso Heights, said that the pop-ups provide an eclectic mix of activities, opportunities for employment and counsel for local youths.

“We use it as an opportunity to really have conversations with parents and target age groups we’re trying to reach,” Brookins said. “These kids really need to find a productive form of expression. ... When I saw what happened at the mall the first time, I thought these kids need something to do.”

Since the pop-ups began in the first weeks of 2019, an estimated 19,000 children and teenagers have participated in more than 300 events, with 85 percent of them being people of color. Seventy-nine percent of participants were 19 and younger, according to Mary Lynne Vellinga, the mayor’s spokeswoman.

And there have been no reported violent incidents or arrests, said Berry Accius, founder of Voice of the Youth, another community organization hosting pop-ups.

“It’s crucial when these kids are out of school that there is safe, fun, enriching activities for them to do,” Vellinga said.

Brookins said teens were initially suspicious of the pop-up events, worried they would be “square.” But the tide quickly turned, with teens often bringing their younger siblings and parents along with them. Brookins credits the success of the project to the flexibility and autonomy granted by the city, which funds the program, and Sierra Health Foundation, the program’s organizer.

That independence has empowered the grassroots organizations to run the events in a way that includes their communities, Brookins and Accius told The Sacramento Bee on Friday.

“Neighborhoods are coming together as youth that don’t traditionally get along,” Brookins said. “There’s a large cohort that are growing up friends rather than enemies.”

The pop-ups also offer employment opportunities to kids as young as 13 depending on their maturity level, Accius said.

“It’s helping to teach responsibility at an earlier age,” he said. “You don’t have to be 16 to work, and it gives them the opportunity to work in a community setting and a family setting that helps them develop their skills.”

According to Vellinga, the youth pop-ups have been funded through 2019 and 2020 by $1.3 million in Measure U revenue, the one-cent sales tax approved by Sacramento voters in November 2018. Other groups hosting events include Impact Sac, Roberts Family Development Center, Always Knocking and Rose Family Creative Empowerment Center.

On Thursday, organizers behind the pop-ups went to Arden Fair wearing gold sweatshirts to greet youths as they entered. As ambassadors for the program, they handed out flyers and encouraged them to participate in the activities, which typically take place in the evenings Fridays and Saturdays.

Nathan Spradlin, the mall’s senior marketing manager, said that Thursday’s 5 p.m. closing — four hours earlier than usual on this day of the week — was another part of preventing further incidents, like what took place Thursday night at two malls in Stockton, which were locked down as more than 100 youths brawled.

“Over the last few years, a growing crowd has been gathering (at Arden Fair mall) with the sole purpose of having fights,” Spradlin told The Bee . “We’ve partnered with the Sacramento Police Department and community leaders in trying to deter that behavior,” referring to the city-led groups.

“It was a very successful day,” he added.

Brookins and Accius say the pop-ups are a step in the right direction, and Steinberg said he plans to recommend that the City Council fund the pop-up program for the upcoming year.

“I think we’re in a moment in Sacramento history where we’re finally moving forward,” Brookins said.

Upcoming holiday pop-ups

December 28

• Impact Sac at Century Arden 14, 1590 Ethan Way, 5:30-9 p.m.
• ReIMAGINE Mack Road at Mack Road Valley Hi Center, 7833 Center Parkway, noon-5 p.m.
• Always Knocking at Oak Park Community Center, 5212 Lemon Hill Ave., 6-10 p.m.
• Voice of the Youth at Fruitridge Community Collaborative, 4625 44th St., 6-9 p.m.
• Village Advocates at Valley Hi/North Laguna Library, 7400 Imagination Parkway, 5-9 p.m.
• Sojourner Truth Museum, 2251 Florin Road, Suite 126, 6-9 p.m.
• Sol Collective, 2574 21st St., 5-8 p.m.

December 29

• Impact Sac at Century Arden 14, 1590 Ethan Way, 5:30-9 p.m.

December 30

• Sojourner Truth Museum, 2251 Florin Road, Suite 126, 6-9 p.m.
• Village Advocates at Southgate Community Library, 6132 66th Ave., 4-7 p.m.
• Impact Sac at Chuck E. Cheese, 1690-96 Arden Way, 6-9 p.m.
• Hmong Youth & Parents United at Hope Center, 631 Eleanor Ave., 4-10 p.m.
• Voice of the Youth at African Marketplace, 2251 Florin Road, 6-9 p.m.

This story was originally published December 28, 2019 at 5:00 AM.