City of Detroit offering youth programs in effort to reduce youth violence
Last week, Detroit's Crime Violence Intervention groups adopted a strategy — a basketball league — to put a stop to the dangerous trend of youth violence in Detroit.
But what if your teen isn't an athlete?
The city has a wide variety of programs available to young people at recreation centers across the city. Crowell Recreation Center in the Brightmoor neighborhood is home to the Heritage Camp, started by Mama Shushanna Shakur 21 years ago. The camp is in memory of her son, who lost his life to gun violence
"My son had just been gone a month, and I said, How can I start this program? And I kind of heard my son's voice saying, Mama, you know, the kids need it," Shukar said.
In more than two decades, the camp has served 4,000 youth.
"We learned how to behave, and it was never too strict or anything crazy, but it was just enough to help us, like go on the right path for us growing up," said Madison Young, youth mentor and drama teacher.
Teens act as mentors and instructors to the younger kids.
"I think that if they're distracted and they're around people and they're being disciplined correctly, and they're being positively influenced, I think that it would make a big difference," said youth mentor Lindsey Becton.
There are 13 Recreation Centers in Detroit. All of them offer youth programming.
"So some of our programming for teens will include anywhere from basketball, but we also have different camps going on, like a heritage camp we have at one of our rec centers. We have classes for braiding or nail tech, and boxing," said Crystal Perkins, director of the city's General Services.
For Detroit residents, ages 13-17, the for the whole year. For 6-12-year-olds, the fee is $5. Kids under 5 get in for free.
While most programs happen during the day, some rec centers are open later in the evening.
"We have nine of our rec centers are open to 9 p.m., that's the latest that our rec centers stay open," Perkins said.
To learn more about the youth programming available, visit the .
