City and partners team on providing weekend programming for teens

City and partners team on providing weekend programming for teens

Published on July 30, 2024

Two Grand Rapids sites offer basketball,video game tournaments, movie screenings, college nights and more!

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - The City of Grand Rapids is excited to announce "It Takes a Village" - a new, collaborative, and community-supported summer youth violence prevention program. This pilot initiative provides recreational, creative, and educational opportunities for youth to help them stay constructively engaged. "It Takes a Village" kicked off last week at LifeQuest Urban Outreach and Alger Middle School. Coordinated by the City's Office of Oversight and Public Accountability (OPA), the program aims to lower violent crime among youth in Grand Rapids by providing positive activities during the summer weekend evenings.

Through August 31, LifeQuest, Grand Rapids Urban League, Grand Rapids Public Schools and Grand Valley State University (GVSU) are offering programming to Grand Rapids youth (ages 12 to 17) on Fridays and Saturdays during summer weekend evenings.

Participants can choose between two sites offering specialized programming to suit a variety of teen interests. Pre-registration is not required.

NightQuest

NightQuest at LifeQuest, 1050 Fisk Rd. SE, offers expanded 5 on 5 basketball, dunk contests, a DJ, food, and guest speakers. This site runs 6 to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday:

• August 2 & 3
• August 9 & 10
• August 16 & 17
• August 23 & 24

CityVibes

CityVibes at Alger Middle School, 921 Alger St. SE, offers video game tournaments, board game nights, movie screenings, art and music workshops, and college nights. The Grand Rapids Urban League will run this site weekend nights through August 31. Cure Violence personnel will provide engaging programming. GVSU personnel will also host college nights at this location.

This site runs 6 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday:

• August 2 & 3
• August 9 & 10
• August 16 & 17
• August 23 & 24
• August 30 & 31

"As the name suggests, it certainly "Takes a Village" to put such a program together," City Manager Mark Washington said. "I am thankful for the collaboration with community partner organizations that have arranged for transportation through Dean Transporation, provision of security and safety screening mechanisms, serving of nutritious food and beverages, and most importantly, recruiting of kids and promoting events.

"Collectively, we will make a difference in advancing the City of Grand Rapids' objective to ensure that all people feel safe, and are safe at all times, throughout our community. Please encourage the young people in your life to participate in our NightQuest or CityVibes "It Takes a Village" programing. I believe these summer events will encourage our youth to socialize and interact with their peers, friends, and neighbors in a safe and encouraging environment."

Brandon Davis, director of oversight and public accountability, said this summer youth violence prevention programming stemmed the community's urgent response to early summer youth violence in our city. "These incidents happened after 8 p.m. highlighting the need for evening programming," he said.

"I thank our partners for coming along with us to brainstorm ways we could provide teens with structured, positive, evening activities this summer. Our 'It Takes a Village' program borrows on best practices from seven similarly sized Midwestern cities where such summer initiatives led to reduced violent crime rates, all made possible by robust community collaboration. This OPA-coordinated effort complements other existing efforts, such as our City's youth curfew ordinance, programming sponsored by the Safe Alliances for Everyone (S.A.F.E.) Task Force, Cure Violence, GRow1000, Parks and Recreation programing and camps, financial support from the Grand Rapids Police Department for the Boys and Girls Club and the OnBase Baseball program to name a few."

Participants are required to undergo security screening prior to entry. No backpacks are allowed.

Tagged as:

• Media Releases