ST. LOUIS – St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones and community leaders held a meeting to discuss youth outreach on Thursday. This comes after last weekend’s deadly mass shooting downtown.
The meeting was held at the Gateway region YMCA, located in the Midtown neighborhood. The group gathered to talk about the alarming trend of violence surrounding youth and to give teens safe and fun places to hang out over the summer.
With 17-year-old Makeo Moore dead and 10 other juveniles injured during a party at a short-term rental early Sunday morning.
Community leaders and youth program coordinators said they plan to expand the hours of weekend youth programs at Wohl and Marquette recreation centers.
From Friday and Saturday, it will be 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. for kids 15 and under and 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. for ages 16 and up. The extended hours will continue until August.
Leaders said they want to keep youth engaged.
“We talked with many mayors across the country. One of the things is reducing crime,” Jones said. “The investment that they are making in their young people. I don’t know if St. Louis has ever made a robust investment in our young people to give them activities and fun to keep them off the streets.”
“Whenever we travel around the country, and we say we are from St. Louis,” said Mike McMillan, president of the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis. “It doesn’t matter if it’s Chesterfield, south city, north city, or Hazelwood, crime is an issue that affects any of us, in any type of community. In terms of attracting jobs and conventions, bringing people to this community, so we have to give our young people everything they need to be successful. The Urban League wants to be a partner with the mayor, and we can not police our way out of this problem.”
To find more information about summer youth programs in St. Louis, click here.