INDIANAPOLIS — With more than 230 homicides in the year 2020, The City of Indianapolis is putting $2.2 million behind dozens of projects designed to combat crime in Marion County. The Boys and Girls Clubs of Indianapolis is on the receiving end of $40,000 to fund its Evening Reporting Center program, which is an alternative juvenile detention.
"We're working with juveniles, young folks who've gotten caught up in the system ages 12 to 18 and our goal is to help them get removed from that and help them get back on the right path, if you will," said Maggie Lewis.
The Boys and Girls Clubs of Indianapolis is just one of 25 organizations receiving 26 grants from the Central Indiana Community Foundation. The CICF administers the grant -- using criteria and money allocated by the Indianapolis City-County Council.
Maggie Lewis is the CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Indianapolis. She says the evening reporting program is year-round and serves about 100 boys and girls through the year. It's a tactic to keep at-risk youth off the streets and out of trouble after school.
"So, every evening they're checking in with a team member from the boys and girls club, let them know what's going on and we literally go to their houses, and pick them up and bring them to one of the clubs and work with them throughout the evening," Lewis said.
In a time where violence and trouble seems to be finding teens, giving those who have already been in trouble a safe and caring environment is part of the boys and girls club's mission to tackle violence in Indianapolis.
"I think when a child has a place to go with adult supervision it prevents them from getting themselves in trouble. It prevents them from having run ins with law enforcement," Lewis said.
