The CeaseFire joke

[coffeeseven]

If it really worked would you have to pay people to do it?

http://www.rrstar.com/homepage/x1925654740

Lack of funds keeps CeaseFire off the streets
Jan 03, 2008 @ 07:17 PM
By SCORE
RRSTAR.COM
ROCKFORD -

The marchers who took to the streets with signs and slogans after nearly every shooting last year were nowhere to be seen after the first homicide of 2008.

The reason is simple, CeaseFire officials say: the cash-strapped anti-violence group can't afford to operate since the state eliminated its funding last year.

So while outreach workers might have staged a vigil for the slain Jermaine Malone, 24, and canvassed the neighborhood for signs of brewing retaliation, they aren't doing anything, leader Willie Ashford said.

Malone was gunned down after a car accident in the 600 block of South Central Avenue early Tuesday. In the past, CeaseFire would have held a march or vigil in the neighborhood within 72 hours of the shooting.

"It's a sad state of affairs," Ashford said of CeaseFire, which still exists despite dropping three outreach workers and the 60 clients they counseled. "Without the outreach workers now, we've lost our infrastructure that gave us connections into the community."

The group has received private donations, he said, but not enough to pay for outreach.

Still hopeful for state funding, CeaseFire has shifted its focus from reactive to proactive, with its "Gangbuster," program, which works with schools and after-school programs to discourage 5- to 12-year-olds from joining gangs. The group hopes to again hold anti-violence rallies, but wants to include a "teaching component" that will draw members of the community to them, Ashford said.

The group is also seeking money by raffling a rebuilt 1992 Chevrolet Camero RS at the end of the month. Tickets for the raffle are on sale now for $20 each or $50 for three. The raffle will be held at noon Jan. 29 at Advance Auto Parts, 2715 11th St.

For more information on CeaseFire's recent efforts or the raffle, call 815-961-8271.

[J’raxis 270145]

This is what happens when private organizations become dependent on government funding.

[coffeeseven]

More on the demise of parental control:

Group seeking state funds to keep city's youths safe
Jan 04, 2008 @ 09:13 PM
By Sadie Gurman
RRSTAR.COM
ROCKFORD -

A group of community leaders says the city's youths are in peril and wants to spend as much as $400,000 of the state's money to change that.

Fights at the city's high schools, teens pulling the triggers in many recent shootings, and the sense among young people that violence is the norm have prompted the fledgling "safety network coalition" to form, its leaders said at their first meeting Friday.

The group includes members of the Rockford Police Department, Rockford Housing Authority, the city's Human Services Department, Winnebago County Health Department and several churches and neighborhood organizations.

Their initial goal is to secure between $250,000 and $400,000 from the state to bring violence prevention activities, mentorship opportunities and safety strategies to the city.

Group leaders haven't decided what those activities and strategies will be, but they could include conflict-resolution and anger management programs for youths, job opportunities, neighborhood patrols and other character building approaches.

"The basic idea is that no more children will be killed," said Geri Alten, of the Health Department's Violence Prevention Collaborative. "We know there's some kids we call 'on the fence,' whose paths could take them into criminal activity, or they could become successful citizens."

The group will submit a proposal to the state by Jan. 25. It might specify a stretch of the city that could become a "target zone" for the coalition, though boundaries have not been identified. Several group members suggested the target area be on the fringes of the city's Weed and Seed areas or in parts of town where police have unleashed an aggressive anti-drug strategy.

Deputy Police Chief Theo Glover attended Friday's meeting and said it's still unclear what the Police Department's role in the group will be. One of the group's slated objectives is to "provide for the safety of young people in the community" and "improve police-community relations."

The group meets again next week, when members will unroll what their organizations can provide to the coalition.