At the Community Educational Center, 3600 Lancaster Ave., in Mantua, on Aug.1, Gov. Josh Shapiro joined youth, community leaders, and elected officials to highlight the transformative power of youth programs in the fight against gun violence.
Before addressing the media, Shapiro sat with a group of students from Beyond the Bars, a nonprofit music and youth diversion program based in West Philadelphia.
Founded in 2015 by Matthew Kerr and Christopher Thornton, Beyond the Bars began as a music initiative for incarcerated youth operating out of an abandoned youth jail at the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center. Since then, the program has evolved into a full-scale youth development model focused on music, education, and leadership…