The recent shootings in Homewood and other Pittsburgh neighborhoods are a sad and tragic reminder of what happens when the community fails to embrace its children at an early age.

Christopher P. Smith is executive director of the Tickets For Kids Foundation, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit organization that helps children and families from distressed neighborhoods enjoy cultural, educational, entertainment and sports activities (www.ticketsforkids.org) Here you'll find the Post-Gazette series and blog "Invisible Men: A Look At the Uncertain World of Black Males.

It's almost trite to say that it takes a village to raise a child, but it remains true that without an encompassing support system, children can fall through the cracks and feel as though they've been left on the outside looking in. This makes them easy prey for gangs and other abusers who give them a sense of family -- something they don't always get at home.

The Post-Gazette recently quoted three national studies about young black males in launching its "Invisible Men" initiative, a year-long project that will delve into the stories behind the often-tragic headlines. The article noted that "young black men who were poorly educated and disconnected from strong family/community support are most likely to be swept into a negative spiral that often leads to unemployment, an intersection with drugs and crime, incarceration and violence." That's why it's so important for children to be included in our community from an early age, to be connected to a safety net before it's too late.

Andrew Carnegie recognized the value of creating a livable community by providing access for the public to the wealth of resources found in books -- a free public library! Carnegie, because he grew up in a poor family, knew what it was like not to have access to that which was reserved for only the well-to-do. Even with his reputation as a tough businessman, Carnegie recognized the value of creating a sense of belonging and a sense of shared community that a library offers. He realized that, over time, such open access would make the community a better place for everyone. I wonder if he also realized that the more livable and inviting the community was, the more his companies would benefit from a stable and vibrant workforce.

Much of what makes Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania so desirable and livable is the unbelievably rich array of local educational, cultural, sporting and entertainment resources we have that cities twice our size often lack. However, not unlike in Carnegie's time, these resources often are denied to an increasingly large percentage of our families due to their limited financial resources. Growing numbers of our area's children and their families are being disenfranchised from participating in what most of us take for granted as important benefits of our community. Imagine walking past the museums, the ballpark or the zoo and knowing you couldn't go in? No matter how inadvertent the message, you've been excluded, as though you don't belong.

The need to belong is universal and fostered in many ways through a sense of connection to family, friends and community. A sense of belonging is the third need on psychologist Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, after only physical needs (food and shelter) and personal safety. We all know the pain of feeling like we don't belong, which is the seed of disenfranchisement among our youth.

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu once observed that a great deal of violence happens among young people who feel their lives will end in a cul-de-sac. He believed that children from difficult circumstances need someone to throw them a lifeline. He encouraged us to reach out to those who might perceive that they are excluded and lack a sense of belonging that others take for granted.

Having such an abundance of community resources is wonderful, but not if it ends up creating a sense of separation between the haves and have-nots. This can sows the seeds of destruction of an otherwise vibrant community.

There is widespread concern that contemporary society is creating and growing children with impaired relationships. The decline of the family and intimate neighborhoods leaves an isolated nuclear family and children without a sense of belonging to the larger community.

The power of inclusion -- the simple gesture of inviting at-risk youth and their families to share fully in all our community resources -- is a significant step toward reversing this sense of not belonging and the resulting lack of community feeling. Could it be that the sense of inclusion that a community asset engenders indirectly actually improves the community more than the asset itself?

We know that inclusion pays off, as evidenced by a pair of 2006 Jefferson Award winners, Warren Butler and Dominick Jones-Moriarty, profiled in the Post-Gazette on Jan. 3. As Monica Haynes wrote, "These two young men could have easily used their personal struggles as an excuse to jump into an abyss already filled with others who let hard times get the best of them. However, as youngsters, Mr. Jones-Moriarty and Mr. Butler were steered toward Allegheny Youth Development, a Christian-based organization that helps at-risk North Side teenage boys." Because they were given a strong sense of inclusion thanks to AYD, Warren and Dom have become responsible young men, now volunteering their time to help others from falling into the abyss they avoided.

In order to build a more livable community -- a place where we all belong and in which we have a stake -- we have to reverse the sense of disenfranchisement that so many young people feel. We need to collectively reach out to our young people and make them feel invited and welcome to participate fully in all that our community has to offer.