This is the latest in AL.com’s “Beyond the Violence” series, which looks at ways to make Birmingham a safer, healthier, and happier place. Register here to receive the newsletter.
More than 800 kids and teenagers will play and compete on Friday while learning how to prevent childhood violence.
TheRESTORE Games, an annual community event that gives young people a safe place to have fun, will take place at the Birmingham CrossPlex from 12 to 4 p.m. The public is welcome to attend the free event, which will feature sports competitions, materials, panel discussions, and seminars conducted by local specialists in violence prevention and city officials.
Renee Price, the event consultant, toldAL.com that the event’s main goal is to lessen violence among the community’s youngsters.
We wish to make them aware that children can engage in a wide range of activities outside of using violence. Therefore, my only hope is that they might be inspired or affected in some manner.
Since its start in 2023, RESTORE, a program for kids affected by the criminal system that focuses on violence prevention and re-entry, has worked to put young people on the right track.
Horseback riding, basketball, golf, baseball, ski ball, volleyball, life-sized chess, ax throwing, drone soccer, and traditional yard games like sack races, jump rope, and hula hooping are all available to children on Fridays.
In addition, there will be a block party, a temporary tattoo parlor, a live DJ, and complimentary food and beverages.
However, playing games isn’t the only purpose of this gathering. Additionally, each child must go to a conflict resolution class.
The games started as a neighborhood block celebration in 2023, according to Antski Williams, a RESTORE program manager who will be speaking on a panel. However, it has developed into a multi-partner event that aims to unite the entire community around a single objective: putting an end to the bloodshed.
More partners joined this year and are supporting the community violence response ecosystem. It’s enormous,” Williams added.
The event is being organized by the city of Birmingham in collaboration with neighborhood groups, including the Jefferson County Family Resource Center, the Birmingham Police Department, the Step by Step Foundation, Leaders of Excellence, Renew Birmingham, and Max Transit.
According to the event’s organizers, it will support constructive community interaction between young people and nearby resources.
They will get the opportunity to attend several workshops and seminars on anger management, conflict resolution, and emotional control. “We’re assisting in preventing the violence before it occurs,” Williams stated.
To raise awareness of the value of violence prevention, Sheree Kennon, creator of the What About Us support organization for people who have lost a loved one to gun violence, has erected a memorial hall in the CrossPlex featuring the faces of homicide victims.
We are raising awareness of the issues that have been occurring in our neighborhood. According to Kennon, put down your weapons, show each other love, and be there for one another.
Some of the activities will have a significant impact on our young people and alter their perspective on life. These are our babies, so why are we here if we can’t demonstrate to our kids and community that we are here to help them?
Price expressed her gratitude to the several partners and members of the community who joined forces to make the games possible.
According to Price, it truly speaks to Birmingham’s development and the direction in which we will see the change we desire and the steps we are taking to achieve it.
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