Books & Buckets

The Washington Neighborhood is the most gang/gun violent neighborhood in Long Beach and has historically been for the last 20 years. Youth are recruited into gangs after school, on the weekend, through their friends, or even their family. Youth look for belonging and foundation when joining a gang, and sometimes that's the only path in front of them. The Washington Neighborhood has no community center, poor park space, more liquor stores per capita than any other neighborhood, less than 8% of residents as homeowners, and very few opportunities for youth to turn to in a neighborhood known for its homeless shelters, rehab centers, food banks, mental health clinics, liquor stores, and candlelit corners more than anything else. Books & Buckets was started at the beginning of 2021 by a local youth, who didn't like how he had to take a 1-hour bus ride to join a quality youth program across town, who didn't like all the community trauma youth go through without any support, who didn't like how it was easier to join a gang than getting involved in a local opportunity, who didn't like the lack of academic and athletic opportunities that were being offered for the next generation.