The Tariq Khamisa Foundation (TKF) was founded in 1995 after college student Tariq Khamisa was killed by a 14-year-old gang member, Tony Hicks. Tony was tried as an adult and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Tariq’s father, Azim Khamisa, felt this tragedy created victims on both ends of the gun. In an extraordinary grace and forgiveness, Azim reached out to Tony’s grandfather, Ples Felix. The two men came together in the spirit of healing to end youth violence.
TKF is dedicated to teaching and inspiring forgiveness, hope and peace in youth and setting them on a path towards opportunity.
TKF has connected with over 500,000 youth in communities across San Diego county since its founding. Changing the lives of young people by installing hope and empowering them to make positive choices is what TKF stands for.
The mission of the Tariq Khamisa Foundation is to create safer schools and communities through educating and inspiring children in the restorative principles of accountability, compassion, forgiveness, and peacemaking.
The TKF programs are based on the following:
- Violence is real and hurts everyone
- Actions have consequences
- Youth can make good and nonviolent choices
- Youth can work toward forgiveness as opposed to seeking revenge
- Everyone deserves to be loved and treated well
- From conflict, love and unity are possible
Location
San Diego, CA, USA
Website
Facebook page: The Tariq Khamisa Foundation
