INDIANAPOLIS — A new program in the city is looking to reduce youth violence by focusing on both kids and their parents, by giving families the tools to heal and grow together.
Earlier this month, organizers met with families as a group, but on Saturday, the focus turned to parents, who gathered for a yoga and relaxation session, "Breathe and Release," hosted by the Youth Violence Reduction Initiative Program.
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“We are here to support them, not just when it comes to the kids,” said Tatanisha Thames, project coordinator in the initiative.
The program works with high-risk youth identified by IMPD and the city to help their families address what organizers say are the deeper causes of violence.
“We have to get to the root cause of the problem, and a lot of times the root cause of the problem is in the home with the parents,” Thames said.
For parents like Shericka, a mother of three, the event was a chance to reset.
“It helps the moms and the parents to just catch a break from everything that's going on around them. That's what it's for,” she said.
Launched just a few months ago, the initiative provides families with resources that go beyond just conversations.
“We give the parents every tool necessary in order for them to be able to deal not only with their children but also with themselves. We offer assistance when it comes [to] housing, when it comes to they need some bills to be paid; food, clothing, whatever it is necessary,” Thames said.
Antonia Bailey, the group session leader, was a part of Saturday’s focus on relaxation event. She draws on her own experience with loss.
“A lot of these moms are hurting, and they're stuck wherever that trauma began. So I'm just going to be working with them, giving different tools to be able to parent effectively and love themselves effectively,” Bailey said.
Bailey said her own children were killed in 2019.
“My children; they didn't have any gun charges. They were killed in 2019. My son, Nicholas, 16, my daughter Ashlyn, 15, at the hands of a 15-year-old, and I spoke life into the young men that killed my children,” she said.
Thames said parents are a key part of breaking the cycle of violence.
“We realize that if we can get the parents, we know we can get the kids,” she said.
For Shericka, that support makes a difference.
“It's basically support and to make sure that our children can do better,” she said.
The Youth Violence Reduction Initiative holds events specifically for parents twice a month and meets with youth several times a week, offering mentorship, therapy and other resources designed to create lasting change.
