Twinkle Rudberg was driving down a Montreal street with her husband Daniel when they saw a teenaged boy assault an elderly woman and snatch her purse. Daniel chased the thief into a park, where the boy stabbed his pursuer in the heart.

As a widow raising young children and working to support them, Twinkle spent years dealing with the emotional and practical aftermath of the killing, and pondering the dynamics that would lead a 14-year-old boy to murder. Then, her children grown, she took what she had learned and set out to end youth violence—her way. “The more backlash you have against them, the more you’ll have youth crime,” Rudberg decided. “What these troubled kids need is a community and a voice.”

Her nonprofit, LOVE—Leave Out ViolencE—opened its doors in 1993, welcoming in kids who have had their own violent experiences, both as victims and as perpetrators. In LOVE’s programs, they all learn about anger management, conflict resolution, and leadership, using photojournalism and writing to produce a newspaper called One LOVE.

The paper is harsh and unblinking, as the kids depict experiences of mutilation, rape and beatings. Through all the horror, a bright spirit shines—Twinkle Rudberg’s conviction that at-risk kids can learn and change and live meaningful lives.