PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — As the gun violence crisis continues to derail young lives in the city, teens at a youth-led community center in West Philadelphia sat down with city leaders and police to discuss solutions. They say they want a seat at the table when it comes to solving the epidemic.
Akayla Brown is the founder of Dimplez 4 Dayz, one of the city’s only youth-led community centers. She said they can only do so much without proper funding.
“We service about 30 to 40 kids and we wish that we could service more but we can’t because of the lack of funding,” she said. “We’re pushing them, we do workforce development programs, we take them on trips. With the lack of funding, we can’t do all that we wish to do.”
Brown and 40 other teens sat down with city leaders and police at the center, located near 35th Street and Haverford Avenue, to voice their concern over rising gun violence in their neighborhoods.
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Many like 18-year-old Ramier Jones of Southwest Philadelphia say they would like to see more city support and funding for quality after-school programs like Dimplez 4 Dayz, which provides a safe space for teens. The organization did not receive an anti-violence grant from the city in its last round.
“If you have school from 8 to 3 and then from 4 to 8 you’re here or other places like this, you then have no time to go find something negative to do. Everything throughout your day is structured,” boasted Jones. “If we have more funding, we can expand this.”
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Many of the teens said losing friends and people they know on a regular basis to gun violence is overwhelming and depressing, and the dirty streets and public spaces only add to that stress.
“That’s one of the biggest things,” noted Brown. “We’re tired of walking around and it just being dirty. I don’t think people understand a clean street would honestly just make somebody feel a little bit more uplifted.”
Also in attendance were Erica Atwood, Morris Hobson and others from the city’s Office of Policy and Strategic Initiatives for Criminal Justice and Public Safety.
“We’re asking these questions of everyone we’re talking to,” said Atwood. “What we want to do and understand is how this helps influence the strategy that we have developed, how we pivot that strategy, how is what we’re doing actually matching up to what we’re hearing. What do we need to throw out and start over from scratch?”
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Deputy Commissioner Joel Dales listened and took notes. He said the evening provided a unique opportunity for police to engage and talk with the kids.
“People think that the kids don’t want to work with the police, but I was truly amazed to see the children literally asking for more of a police presence,” said Dales. “They want to see more police officers get out of their police cars, walking out and have a conversation with them. They stressed, they made it loud and clear that in order to receive respect, we have to give respect. So I really, truly admire the children here today.”
Jones hopes their recommendations will be taken further than pen and paper.
“When it comes to being accountable, we’re going to get the work done, but we need y’all to hold up your end as well,” he told them. “Make sure when that money comes around, it gets reinvested, not just in the programs but the right programs that are actually out there doing it.
“Twenty to 30 kids, at least, come here every day after school. They talk about bringing their friends here. This is how you build the community, but we can’t build it without that funding.”
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The listening session was one of several that city leaders are hosting to engage violence-impacted neighborhoods in talks of solutions, as part of the mayor’s Road Map to Safer Communities.