A 17 year-old teen starts campaign to end gun violence

Rochester, New York — A 17-year-old teen started the campaign “We Got This” to reduce gun violence in Rochester.

Isaiah Santiago main goal is to give youth a chance to focus on their personal talents and passions.

According to Santiago, he mentors kids his age who started off with a negative lifestyle, and now, they are on the right path to a better future.

“I was seeing some of my friends be killed,” Santiago said. “Some of my family members be killed. I knew that it was time for me to help the youth. I kind of did it off of my own life. When I was in middle school, I was terrible. [I was] getting suspended every other day and getting into fights. But once I got into photography and stuff I was passionate about, my life changed. And it’s like a substitution. So I knew to get the negative out of the community, you need a substitution of positive.”

Some of the kids focused their energies on music and were able to take part in the annual Rochester Summer Soul Music Festival.