MAYOR ERIC GARCETTI
CITY OF LOS ANGELES
June 24, 2015
MAYOR GARCETTI KICKS OFF 8th YEAR OF SUMMER NIGHT LIGHTS
Mayor Launches Summer Evening Event Series for City’s Youth and Families
LOS ANGELES—Mayor Eric Garcetti, along with LAPD Chief Charlie Beck and Youth Squad members, announced the start of the eighth year of the Summer Night Lights (SNL) program.Summer Night Lights is an expanded series of evening events in 32 public parks located in areas with high rates of violent crimes. Summer Night Lights keeps L.A.’s youth engaged and off the streets, helping to reduce crime and violence during peak months for gang-related activity.
“Summer Night Lights has transformed communities once plagued by gang violence by providing safety and job opportunities to our city’s young Angelenos during the critical summer months,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti.“Building on that success, we will expand the spirit of SNL across several parks this fall so residents can continue to enjoy recreational open spaces without fear.”
In 2007, as a City Councilmember, Mayor Garcetti founded the park program as ‘At the Park After Dark,’ which relaunched the following year as SNL to keep city parks open late for six weeks during the summer.The program provides activities for at-risk youth and their families, job opportunities, and a safe place to spend the summer evenings at 32 sites across the city.
In the past year, gang-related crime has dropped by 15.4% at the 32 sites.Since the program’s inception, it has hosted approximately 4.2 million visits from community members and over 2.67 million meals have been served.
Summer Night Lights will run from 7 pm – 11 pm each evening, and will be open Wednesday – Saturday June 24th to August 1st, and then Friday – Saturday August 7th – August 28th.
For details, visit www.lamayor.org/snl or see the attached documents, available in both English and Spanish.
Summer Night Lights also provides at-risk youth with the opportunity for employment and professional development. Youth Squad members undergo training on a variety of relevant topics prior to the start of Summer Night Lights and receive a stipend for their work implementing the programs. Over the course of the entire 2014 program, an estimated 1,068 jobs were created, including 325 jobs for Youth Squad Members ages 17-24.
The SNL program is an innovative public-private partnership, with almost half of the program’s cost paid for by the generous support of foundation and corporate donors such as The Walt Disney Company and the Weingart Foundation. This support allows the City to offer SNL programming free of charge for all participants and provides sports, arts, and access to resources to communities most in need.
Summer Night Lights is also funded in part by the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles, a nonprofit organization focused on creating partnerships between the City of Los Angeles and the private, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors.
