“I think the City at Peace program is mad cool. The relationship between me and my mother has matured and grown because of City at Peace.”

 

“City at Peace has been an eye-opening experience. The exposure to such diverse people with such diverse lifestyles and issues makes you realize that it is not all about you, and it also make you realize that you are not alone.”

 

“City at Peace makes me want to make a difference, not just think about issues and problems and solutions to fixing those problems, but also taking action to actually make that change.”

 

“City at Peace has made me realize that every single person within a community is needed to improve it. Everyone is important.”

 

“City at Peace has been the most amazing, valuable experience of my life. I don’t know where I would be today without it. Because of City at Peace, I believe I stereotype people a lot less now. I don’t make assumptions about people any more. It has given me this drive to do more to help people and inspire them.”

 

“City at Peace has taught me things that I will live by throughout my life. Some of the things I have learned are respect, not to be homophobic and to be less judgmental. I feel so much happier because of City at Peace. I can honestly say it has changed my life.”

 

“My experience at City at Peace has helped me to commit to something and stay committed. I have also learned that it is ok to step out of the box. City at Peace has given me somewhere to go where people understand me and don’t judge me.”

 

“Because of City at Peace, I have learned that I am so much more capable of doing things than I ever imagined. I’ve become more aware of myself, my mind, my surroundings and others around me. My life feels like it has purpose now. I love waking up every Saturday morning and knowing - ’Today I am going to do something worthwhile.’”

 

“My experience of City at Peace has been incredible. The way I view life and the way I interact with people has changed because of City at Peace.”

 

“City at Peace is the one place in which I am not scared of being ridiculed and judged for being who I am and making the decisions I make. My friends sometimes tell me “Oh you’re so City at Peacey!” because I like to share what I have learned with others and because now I am more sensitive about issues and jokes about them tend to offend me. I’m proud to be ‘City at Peacey’.”

 

“City at Peace has changed me so much. I am nowhere near as angry at myself or stressed as I have been for so long. I now realize there is so much I want to do with my life, and I can. I see myself and life so differently. I am so thankful for City at Peace! I only wish everyone could have such an amazing and great program like City at Peace.”

 

“City at Peace has been, by far, the best thing that has ever happened to me in my entire life. I now realize that I can make a difference in the world and that I can do anything I want with my life. I have learned to have confidence in myself and my abilities, and I’ve become even more open minded than I was before.”

 

“I have gotten a lot out of being in City at Peace already – because it has helped me overcome many fears and strong negative emotions and I have applied what I learn at City at Peace in my job and at school.”

 

“I have changed being at City at Peace. I’m a lot more respectful to my Dad and I’m more accepting of other people. I’m happy when I leave City at Peace, even if I wasn’t happy when I arrived.”

 

“If it wasn’t for City at Peace, I honestly think I would have lost hope. Since City at Peace, my grades have gone up and I feel more confident in myself.”

 

“ City at Peace has been an eye-opening experience that I needed so that I could belong somewhere and be part of something positive. City at Peace has helped me and my mother’s relationship and changed my outlook on life. Without it, I would be on the street.”

 

“I’ve become more independent, talkative and responsible being in City at Peace. To me, that helps me strive.”

 

“City at Peace has been an awesome learning experience. Thanks to City at Peace the communication between me and my parents has gotten a lot better. My grades went up because I learned how to focus more and I stopped goofing off. City at Peace is getting people more aware of everything going on and I love it!”

 

“City at Peace has taught me how to control my temper and that has allowed me to speak to my parents without a fight.”

 

“City at Peace has helped me to be a better person. I’ve learned how to forgive and respect others – now I talk to my mom. I feel better about myself.”

"City at Peace helped me get my life and my thoughts together. At a time in my life when I didn't want to stay in school and when things just didn't seem worth it and people just seemed like blood-sucking monsters, it was enough to hear that people cared and they wanted to talk and find a solution and make things better. And that made me care again. Which in turn made my relationship with my family better, as well as with my friends, teachers, coaches and other people in my community. The world wasn't out to get me anymore and I wasn't out to get them either. The drive of the people around me and the skills the program offers were invaluable."

"I think a City at Peace program is beneficial to any community. It gets people together in a safe place to talk about the things that really effect them and their worlds and gives them tools to do something about it. It seems like teenagers today, like any other day, have so much to say and have trouble finding people to listen and react and help."

"We come together to achieve one unified goal--to create a City at Peace. First, however, we make peace within ourselves. We face our lives--the joys, the pains, the betrayals and the abandonment--and we turn it into a positive. We attempt to understand each other in a way that the world around us won't let us. In City at Peace, barriers crumble and our inhibitions are set free as we, a small piece of the New York rainbow, delve into ourselves and each other, who we are and what we hope to become."

"One reason we need City at Peace is that, without it, I very well might not be alive today. I wanted to kill myself so much back when I first started with City at Peace. I'm sure there are others out there who have felt the same way. A combination of many things, but mostly many people, turned me away from that idea. And I know now that I will never consider suicide again simply because of the effect it would have on the people I love, many who are from City at Peace."

"During my time in City at Peace, I had the opportunity to learn what it is like to lead a diverse group of young men and women, and achieve the most important part of my learning-- passing on the skills I learned. In collaboration with fellow cast members I helped to lead an outreach and education program on conflict resolution and basic life skills at a public elementary school. I took complete responsibility for this program. The fact that a great deal of the success of this program rested on my shoulders gave me a real taste of what life after high school would demand from me: the ability to push through in the face of challenges, to accept the responsibility for my own successes and failures, to pick myself up when I fall, and to ask for help when I need it. In the end, I went forward with the knowledge that I had created and executed a program that changed the lives of the kids and cast members who learned to work together. With this knowledge of the great things that I can accomplish with the people around me, I was well prepared, and committed, to finding new ways to pass it on again."

"City at Peace is what changed my GPA from a 1.2 to a 3.714 and changed my feeling of hopelessness. I tell everyone that. I learned from my experiences with City at Peace that hard work, responsibility and perseverance count. I finally understood that it takes time, application and investing in a process to achieve the life you want to be living. It wasn't people just telling me that--I truly experienced it by sticking with the work and by actualizing the show. Perhaps one of the biggest rewards of working with City at Peace was that I saw that by making a difference in other people's lives, by helping other people, I could make a difference in my own life and help myself. I learned that my voice mattered."

"City at Peace is where you can express yourself and not be judged. It is open arms, and big smiles. Lots of laughs and lots of dedication. What we want to achieve is in our hands and what we aim for is with within reach."

"There is a trust bond there and a sense of belonging. You can express yourself in any form of way. It has also helped me communicate with my parents and my friends, my grades have also improved. City at Peace has made a positive impact on my life and now I know how important life is to me as a teenager. I love City at Peace and I would not trade it for anything in the world!!"

"Today's world isn't safe, especially not for teenagers. People tend to associate with their cultures and their dictated social classes, rather than trying to cross the boundaries and walls that people put up around them selves. Every Saturday, teenagers from all walks of life, take the steps to cross those boundaries and break down those walls that separate the society around us. We learn how to deal with problems instead of run away from them. We get to spend time with people we normally wouldn't give a chance to. We get to express ourselves through the arts and have fun."

"City at Peace has helped me over come my inner demons. Before I started City at Peace I had very low self esteem and I was a very depressed person because I thought I was the only person my age who was having the problems I was having, but I met people who were there for me and who have helped me be the person I am today. This is my second year in City at Peace and I have met people who I know are going to be life long friends."