How Rev. Travis Ellis is working to rid neighborhoods of crime and discrimination with the aid of human rights education.

WASHINGTON, DC, USA, May 2, 2019 /EINPresswire.com/ -- As statistics on drugs and crime are on the rise around the country and across all demographics, individuals and non-profit organizations join forces to bring effective solutions and inspire people to become again proactive members of the society. Actions from distributing thousands of educational booklets on human rights, to human rights trainings and community events are being taken right now across the United States, and especially in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., that a while ago had the fearsome reputation of being the "murder capital" of the US due to crack abuse and rampant gun violence.

Travis Ellis, a native Washingtonian grew up no stranger to these kinds of activities, living in those neighborhoods described by media outlets as “by far the worst”. Using drugs, by the age of 14 he became involved with local crime within the neighborhood. A near-death experience from smoking marijuana laced with PCP (Angel Dust) put him into a “persistent vegetative state” with the result of winding up in a psychiatric facility at the age of just 17.

After 3 months in this state, nothing short of a miracle occurred when a pastor from a local church came to preach the gospel and ultimately healed Ellis. The spiritual experience left Ellis grateful and inspired to turn his life around. He then became a youth minister and dedicated his life to safeguarding the youth of his community to help them make better life choices free from drugs, crime and violence.

Ellis began working with the Cure the Streets program with the D.C. Attorney General’s Office. Cure the Streets is a nationwide model that focuses on high crime areas. “We take the young leaders in the community. We bring them in, we train them, we give them trauma information, we give them basic human rights training and training on drug education,” Ellis explained. “That way leaders can go back and educate their neighborhoods. This is how real violence reduction comes about.”

Ellis uses the free educational materials provided to him by Youth for Human Rights International and works in partnership with the local D.C. Chapter of Youth for Human Rights on activities and events in the city. He recently attended the Youth for Human Rights International U.S. National Human Rights Conference, including a Hill Day advocating for stronger human trafficking legislation in Congress.

“The beauty of the Youth for Human Rights materials is that they provide an easy understanding of what basic human rights are,” said Ellis. “When young people know their human rights they gain a newfound respect for themselves and their peers.”

About Youth for Human Rights:

Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) is a nonprofit organization founded in 2001 whose mission is to teach youth about human rights, specifically the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and inspire them to become valuable advocates for respect and peace. Their most recent campaign has included #KnowYour30 with the deliberate purpose of increasing awareness of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights list of the 30 human rights every person has – and how these become interwoven into everyday life. To learn more go to https://www.youthforhumanrights.org or watch
https://www.scientology.tv/series/voices-for-humanity/mary-shuttleworth.html

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