MEET PEACE PORTRAITS HONOREE LUIS BAHENA
Story + Creative Producer: Camille Travis | Video: 5 by 12 Films | Photography: Kelcey McKinney
Peace Portraits, presented by the Illinois Peace Project, is a visual series dedicated to spotlighting the extraordinary individuals working every day to build safer, stronger, and more peaceful communities. These individuals embody the spirit of Peace Portraits, as they work tirelessly to inspire change and empower others.
When Luis Bahena first got his start at New Life Centers (NLC) in 2017 as a Street Outreach Mentor, he had a caseload of only two participants.
It wasn’t exactly the volume of work he had expected when he took the job, but day in and day out, for months, he pushed to recruit more community members in an effort to help reduce gun violence in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood.
And then came Alex.
Bahena had grown up with his older brothers and watched Alex develop into a joyful, energetic kid with a daredevil side.
Bahena says he could see Alex was headed for trouble, but also, had a magnetic light that drew others to him. Bahena made it his mission to keep Alex on the right path and direct his influence toward good.
There were a few false starts; Alex had one foot in and one foot out of the street life. But things came to a head when Alex got shot, prompting him to want to change his life and take Bahena up on his offer to join the NLC team as a mentor, a position he keeps to this day.
“Alex finally made a decision where he’s like, ‘I want to be a mentor. I want to do what you do. I want to be the person for the younger generation,’” Bahena says. “My caseload before him was two people. After him, everybody was trying to get enrolled. Everybody was trying to be part of the program.”
If you let Bahena tell it, it was Alex’s influence that brought fresh interest to the street outreach program. However, credit must be given to Bahena for his ability to see all the untapped potential in Alex and his peers, and for his relentless pursuit of steering them in the right direction.
Bahena’s willingness to build up the younger generation comes as no surprise, as he was introduced to NLC’s programming in his teenage years by Benjamin “Benny” Estrada, NLC Senior Director of Street Outreach, and Jorge Roque, NLC Chief Restorative Justice Officer. Bahena says it was through their guidance and mentorship that he started to imagine a life beyond his block.
“[They] gave me an opportunity to experience things outside of Little Village,” Bahena says, “because for many of us growing up in Little Village, that’s all we know. Unfortunately, it’s because of the traumas we face.
“A lot of times we feel very limited to Little Village and we feel that experiencing something outside of the hood is a little bit awkward for us. I’m so grateful that we have guys like Benny and Jorge who gave us those opportunities to explore things outside the neighborhood.”
In taking those opportunities, the world opened up for Bahena. He enrolled at Valparaiso University in Indiana and took an interest in learning more about the Civil Rights Movement and the principles of nonviolence, as well as the psychology behind human behaviors.
“I was just inspired to think critically about Little Village,” Bahena says. “I became curious about the reasons why my peers and people in my community were making the decisions that they were making at a young age, but also, still involved in street organizations at older ages. I was taking the time to think critically about how I can be part of the solution.”
Bahena graduated in 2016 with a degree in psychology, and after a year-long stint at a volunteer program at the Mercy Home for Boys and Girls, he received a call from Estrada asking him to return to NLC as a Street Outreach Mentor. It took some convincing, but “yes” was ultimately the answer. Bahena was coming home to the organization that aided in his growth and development as a young man.
He now sits squarely in the middle of three generations of Community Violence Intervention (CVI) professionals working to improve the lives of residents in Little Village. Serving as the Scaling Community Violence Intervention for a Safer Chicago (SC2) Street Outreach Supervisor for NLC, Bahena manages a team of mentors who connect with high-risk individuals in the community who are more prone to getting shot or being the perpetrator of gun violence. He leads with compassion, understanding that his team members are dealing with traumas of their own.
"It brings me a lot of joy that I’m a part of a team that is strategically hiring people from the neighborhood to serve the neighborhood. I take a lot of pride and honor in that."
“It brings me a lot of joy that I’m a part of a team that is strategically hiring people from the neighborhood to serve the neighborhood. I take a lot of pride and honor in that,” Bahena says.
“The biggest blessing for us at New Life is not only to grow as an organization, but having the opportunity to provide job opportunities to like-minded people in the neighborhood who are trying to serve and give back to their neighborhood. They know the challenges we face and have a lot of relationships in the community.”
When Bahena reflects on the idea of peace, he’s reminded of a quote that sticks with him: “Peace is not just the absence of violence, but the presence of community wellness.” He sees this wellness in the resources provided through NLC, such as legal aid, workforce development, mental health services, the Pan de Vida food distribution centers, and more.
“That’s what I think peace looks like — community wellness, having community buy-in with the mentoring programs and the things we’re trying to offer. [It’s] walking with families through tough times,” Bahena says. “Whether you like it or not, those high-risk people, people that society calls gang members, they’re part of our community. They have their own struggles too.
“Let’s be part of the solution, instead of pointing fingers, judging them, and casting them to the side. I’m slowly starting to see that come to fruition.”
The Illinois Peace Project is an initiative supported by partner organizations with a shared vision for reducing gun violence in Illinois.