by KYW's John Ostapkovich

If you toss money into those red kettles during the holiday season, some of it goes to prevent violence.

Just off 55th and Market Streets in West Philadelphia, in a landscape scarred by elevated train reconstruction, a Salvation Army facility -- one of 17 in the city -- works to rebuild lives. 

Lt. Tony Lewis says basketball is a way to attract some young adults, but the key is to make a connection:

"Because it all starts with relationships. People sometime don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. People are not concerned about programs so much as they want people to be concerned about them."

The Salvation Army, with its faith-based approach, offers a chance to stand tall despite the crushing dangers of the street, but it is by no means bulletproof:

"(Among) all of us being ministers here we've had to bury a number of our kids and the big brothers and the sisters of our children, et cetera, but it's not anything that we do on a consistent basis because our kids understand that there's a better way."

Better but not easier, says Pastor Shawn McKnight, who shepherds about 100 kids every afternoon in homework, self-discipline, and self-worth.  Here, too, the right approach counts:

"A picture kid, they have to see it to believe it.  A passion kid, they have to feel it.  Okay, I'm with that, let's go, let's go.  A principle kid has to understand it. And lastly that practice kid, he's got to do it, so if you tell them if it's hot, he's got to touch it to know that it's hot before he can modify his behavior."

With the focus on the whole person -- body, mind, and spirit.

For more information, visit the Salvation Army's web site, 877redkettle.org.