November 2008  All Articles

Foster Care Advocate Zaid Gayle Chosen to Receive National Award for Improving Local Health Conditions

Los Angeles,  November 5, 2008 – Zaid Gayle had a dream ten years ago when he launched Peace4Kids, a grassroots effort aimed at creating “community as family” for foster and at-risk youth in South Los Angeles.  After touching the lives of over 1,500 youth and growing Peace4Kids into a thriving non-profit, Mr. Gayle has been recognized on the national stage.  

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announced Zaid Gayle, a longtime advocate for the health, safety and well-being of foster children in impoverished South Los Angeles neighborhoods, as one of ten exemplary Americans who will receive the Community Health Leaders Award for 2008.  The distinguished annual award honors extraordinary men and women from all over the country who conquer huge obstacles and take commanding action in local communities to tackle some of the most challenging health and health care problems facing the nation.   

This year, more than 800 nominations were submitted from across the United States.  Through a rigorous process, the Foundation selected ten outstanding individuals, all of whom have worked to improve health conditions in their communities with exceptional creativity, courage and commitment.  The Foundation chose Gayle this year for his leadership at Peace4Kids, a social service agency enriching the lives and improving the physical, mental, social and emotional health outcomes of foster children in disadvantaged South Los Angeles communities.  Gayle accepted his award on October 29 at a special ceremony honoring each of the 2008 recipients during the Community Health Leaders Annual Meeting in San Diego.  

"Zaid Gayle works tirelessly and selflessly to assure healthy and constructive transitions for foster children in South Los Angeles," said Janice Ford Griffin, national program director for the award.  "He has been able to gain and sustain the trust of the young people and simultaneously inspire adults and other officials throughout the city to implement new and more effective strategies for developing healthy and constructive young adults."  

Gayle cofounded Peace4Kids in 1998 to improve life prospects for children in the foster care system who are constantly surrounded by violence, despair and extreme poverty in the destitute South Los Angeles neighborhoods of Watts, Compton, South Gate and Willowbrook.  Gayle leads the organization in its efforts to prevent foster children from becoming products of dangerous and troubling environments in which they are teeming with drug and alcohol addiction, homelessness, low life expectancy, poor physical and mental health, incarceration and unrealized potential.  Peace4Kids works to mitigate these influences and provide a nurturing environment for children as they age through the system and make the challenging transition into adulthood.  

The organization guides children to steer clear from street conflicts, live healthier lifestyles and avoid becoming teen parents.  It teaches them life skills, cooperation and conflict resolution while enhancing their personal development and building their self-esteem.  Through field trips, creative educational courses, athletic programs, nutrition counseling, group activities and mentorship, Peace4Kids helps foster children develop their potential while helping them transition into positive, productive and self-sufficient young adults.        

"I am extremely honored to receive the Community Health Leaders award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation," said Gayle.  "This is a monumental accomplishment, not just for me, but more importantly for the community of foster youth that Peace4Kids serves.  Our youth have often been silenced by the system that serves them but this award furthers the effort to give value to their voices in order to drastically improve their outcomes."  

Under Gayle's leadership, Peace4Kids has intervened in the lives of more than 1,500 foster children and youth 5-24 years of age.  Its impact on the young people it touches has been so significant that the County of Los Angeles recruited the organization to help lead a county-wide initiative to provide adult mentors to all teens in the Los Angeles foster care system.  Essential to the effectiveness of Peace4Kids are the personal life plans the youth create for themselves; the "community as family" philosophy the organization upholds; and the concepts of choice and personal responsibility it instills in all program participants.  In a letter of recommendation supporting Gayle's nomination for the award, 18-year-old Trayvon Johnson, who joined Peace4Kids at 13, wrote that Gayle taught him the importance of making the right choices in life and that "I have complete control over my destiny...."     

Zaid Gayle can be contacted directly at (310) 635-8500 or zaid@peace4kids.org.  For more information about this release, please contact Craig Issod at (415) 661-9490 or craig@heliumventures.com .  

About Peace4Kids Peace4Kids is a grassroots, non-profit organization that provides a continuum of programs and services for current and former foster and at-risk youth ages 5-24 in South Los Angeles.  Peace4Kids is dedicated to empowering foster and at-risk youth by providing an environment that creates community as family. Through activities that cover life skills, athletics, nutrition, arts, creative writing, and mentoring, Peace4Kids helps foster and at-risk youth learn life skills, conflict resolution, self-expression, health and hygiene, and fundamental social skills so that they can become self-sufficient adults.   

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