Robby Poblete Foundation

Safer Streets, The Robby Poblete Foundation takes a fresh approach toward reducing gun violence

By Matt Larson

Robby Poblete was working for a biotech company, training to become a welder, and had dreams of opening up his own welding shop. On September 21, 2014, he was shot and killed in the city of Vallejo. The perpetrators used an illegal firearm that was later resold on the streets.

A single gun falling into the wrong hands has the potential to cause immeasurable harm. Are fewer guns the answer to reducing gun violence in America? That could certainly fix at least part of the problem, but Pati Navalta, Robby Poblete’s mother, considers why people resort to using guns in the first place.

“Even if you take the weapons away, it still doesn’t address the underlying cause of why people turn to violent crime,” she said. “Barring mental illness, a lot of it is because of desperation, and hopelessness, because someone doesn’t have access to a good job, or they didn’t get a good education … I just thought, if these four men who were arrested in my son’s case had just learned a job skill along the way, or if they were like my son and were on the verge of getting offered a great job, we could have avoided all of this.”

With a mission to reduce gun violence and increase opportunities in our communities, Pati created the Robby Poblete Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. They have three distinct methods of approaching this issue: gun buybacks, The Art of Peace, and vocational awareness.

“Gun buybacks, to me, were low-hanging fruit and common sense,” Pati said. “The more research I did, the more I found that a lot of crimes are committed by illegal firearms, and firearms that are stolen from homes. Gun buybacks allow gun owners to get rid of firearms they no longer want, and get them out of circulation so that they can never fall into the wrong hands.”

When she was researching how to recycle the guns they’d be bringing in, Pati discovered that they’re often sent to a weapons destruction company where they’re recycled or sold for scrap metal. “My son, at the time he was killed, was gathering a lot of scrap metal for the purpose of creating art,” she said. “I knew that Vallejo and Solano County as a whole has a burgeoning art community, and I know a lot of them work with metal. So I thought to repurpose these metals that were once used to harm people, and create art out of them. From that art, we could create a community discourse on the impacts of gun violence.”

Now on display at the Temple Art Lofts at 707 Marin Street in Vallejo, the Solano County Art of Peace exhibit was unveiled on May 11th, and it is currently open for public viewings on select dates and times through June 28th. To book a private showing for classes, groups, and organizations to come and discuss the impacts of gun violence among youth, young adults, and the community as a whole, email info@robbypobletefoundation.org.

Many high school graduates are often presented with only two options for how to guide their future, being told it’s either college or the military. As we all know, there are many respectable occupations that don’t require a college degree, but they don’t get nearly as much attention in the classroom. “That’s a real gap that I see in our education system,” Pati said. “I hope to fill that gap by letting them know that there is an alternative to college; there is an alternative to the military; and they are good-paying jobs.”

The Robby Poblete Foundation has partnered with local unions, workforce development agencies, and county offices to help educate students about their options for working in the skilled trades. “I think we have about seven apprenticeship centers in Solano County,” Pati said. “These apprenticeships pay you to learn. When we surveyed students throughout all districts in Solano County, most came back saying ‘I’ve never heard about these apprenticeships,’ and more than half of them said they were interested.”

With so many accomplishments already it’s hard to believe that the Robby Poblete Foundation is only just beginning its second year of operations. “When I created the foundation, I put in a three-year plan,” Pati said. The first year she planned to meet with community leaders and forge partnerships, the second year was to be the beginning of the gun buybacks and maybe the start of transforming collected weapons into art, and the third year was to be about the vocational aspect and possibly expanding their efforts to other counties. “What I didn’t expect was that it all happened within the span of 10 months,” she said. “All of it.”

Not only did they have a gun buyback event in Solano County, but Pati also was contacted by leaders of the City of Richmond who wanted to partner for a gun buyback event of their own, so they had one in Richmond as well. The Art of Peace (RPF’s program of turning guns into art) has inspired Alameda County to do the same, and they’ve already selected artists for their own Art of Peace exhibit. And the foundation has already co-sponsored or solely sponsored three career fairs, where hundreds of students have come to learn about the trades. They’ve even gone so far as to partner with the probation department in Solano County Superior Court to help ex-offenders learn about these vocational opportunities as well.

“Honestly, when we had our launch event and I was saying what we wanted to do, I was worried that by year two I wouldn’t be able to say that we delivered,” Pati said. “But we went beyond what we said we were going to do.”

The artists that create works for the Art of Peace do get stipends for their work, but people bringing in their guns for the buybacks aren’t offered cash in exchange. “The problem with giving cash is they could just go right back out and buy another gun with it, and that’s not what we want,” Pati said. “We give them gift cards, mostly from local businesses, so that the money goes back into Vallejo’s economy.”

To top off the list of major accomplishments for year one, the Robby Poblete Foundation has also received its first big grant. “Two days before our one-year anniversary I got a call from the California Wellness Foundation that we were approved for our request, and we got $150,000 for our first grant,” Pati exclaimed. And it’s an unrestricted fund, which means it can be used for the gun buybacks, the career fairs, paying their Art of Peace artists, anything. They still need sponsorships, but this will provide a nice cushion to ensure that they remain fully operational for the next three years.

After her son’s death, creating this foundation was the last thing on Pati’s mind. She had to get her emotions out, so she decided to write down what she was going through. “You see the headline when someone’s shot, but a lot of people don’t understand the effect that it has on that family when it’s over, and people aren’t coming anymore with their casseroles and their well wishes,” she explained. “What does it do to a family? And to a mother? And to a community? That’s the story that I set out to write.” Writing this story from her home in Cordelia is what led to her creating this foundation. A longtime Vallejo resident of more than 30 years, Pati couldn’t return there after her son’s death. “I just remembered driving toward tragedy, and driving toward that moment when I lost my son … But maybe, if I could create a foundation that could help the community, to help other parents avoid having to go through what I went through, maybe then I could return to the city if I know that I’m returning to something positive and not something tragic.” And that’s how the foundation was born.

A Better Place: A Memoir of Peace in the Face of Tragedy by Pati Navalta is being released nationally to time out with Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 2nd, available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and Target. The Robby Poblete Foundation’s second annual fundraiser, Phoenix Rising, will be held on June 30th from 6-10 p.m. at the Mare Island Brewing Company, 851 Waterfront Avenue on Mare Island in Vallejo. The event will be catered by League of Chefs and will feature a live auction where you’ll have a chance to bid on the artwork from their Art of Peace exhibit. Proceeds will benefit the Foundation’s three programs: gun buybacks, Art of Peace, and vocational. Tickets and sponsorships can be purchased at rpfphoenixrising.brownpapertickets.com and, at this writing, they are still looking for donations for their silent and live auctions. If you have donations, or any questions, please email info@robbypobletefoundation.com. To learn more about the Robby Poblete Foundation, and to learn how to donate your time or money toward helping reduce gun violence in our communities, please visit robbypobletefoundation.org.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Larson is an actor/comedian/director from Vallejo who lives a double life between the Bay and LA. When he’s not writing for Local Happenings Magazine he could be editing a short film or working on his next rap album—who knows!

Keep up with all things Larson at: www.MarsLegstrong.com.