Movin' On Up in Northside

Chapel Hill Sgt. Melvin Smith led the meeting, which took place at Hargraves Recreational Center.

Smith told a crowd of 20 about the program, coined the We Care Youth Program, which seeks to identify kids in need and help them find jobs, finish their education or even find a trade.

"We want to help bridge the gap where kids usually fall through the cracks," Smith said.

The program will involve sports events, peer and adult mentoring, arts projects and other events that will encourage kids to get off the streets.

"We need to take the toughest problems, the ones who feel the most alienated, and get them back engaged," said Al McSurely, a Chapel Hill attorney who attended the meeting.

The group will be focusing on at-risk kids from all age groups, starting with children as young as 8 years old. "We want to work with some 8- to 10-year-olds because they will be the ones in five years that we may be seeing in the station," Smith said.

Although local schools already have enacted numerous outreach programs to help at-risk kids, the We Care Youth Program plans to help kids during school vacations, such as Thanksgiving, spring and summer breaks.

"We're not trying to take the place of schools," Smith said. "We are simply trying to help kids stay off the streets when there is simply nothing else to do."

Police Chief Gregg Jarvies said the Chapel Hill police already have provided some funding, but the program is relying on private and business donations to donate money.

McSurely said the next step should be involving the children that the programs target.

"Kids know what they want and what they need, and we need to get them talking," McSurely said.

But residents and officials who attended the meeting said involving children could be a complicated process.

"The problems that face today's youth are multi-faceted, and we need to determine exactly what these problems are," said Sterlin Halt, a recently retired public works supervisor.

The group decided to employ untraditional mechanisms to hook children and connect them to the programs.

Tinita Jones, an outreach minister and Chapel Hill resident, suggested hosting a fair with free food, dancing and clowns.

"We are going to have to start small, such as the Northside community, and then branch out to other Chapel Hill communities," Smith said.

Deborah Farrington, director of the Child and Family Services at the Mental Health Center, said the program can work. "We are off to a good start, and we have excellent leadership," she said.

For now the group is concentrating its efforts on communicating with children and developing successful programs.

"We want to be in a position where we can tell at-risk children that there is something they can do besides hang out in the street," Smith said.

"We need to teach our young people how to survive."

The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu.