WEST SIDE NONPROFIT PREPARES TO HOST GET ALONG SUMMERTIME JAM

Prevention Force Family Center is preparing to host its annual Get Along Summertime Jam from noon to 3 p.m. on Sept. 21 at DMI YOUth Can. Photo Caption: Prevention Force Family Center
Prevention Force Family Center is preparing to host its annual Get Along Summertime Jam from noon to 3 p.m. on Sept. 21 at DMI YOUth Can. Photo Caption: Prevention Force Family Center

West Side NonProfit Prepares To Host Get Along Summertime Jam

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

The Prevention Force Family Center is a nonprofit organization operating on the west side to provide residents with an array of services including youth development, violence prevention, and entrepreneurship programs. The organization is preparing to host their annual Get Along Summertime Jam at DMI YOUth Can, 5090 W. Harrison St., from noon to 3 p.m. on Sept. 21.

Prevention Force Family Center was founded in 1996 by a community resident who saw that struggling youth and families on the west side needed an opportunity to connect with qualified programs and services that could help them overcome some of the obstacles they were facing.

Today, the Prevention Force Family Center operates under the mission of creating an environment where individuals are self-sufficient, responsible, and productive residents of the community, according to information provided by Prevention Force Family Center.

“Our main goal is to promote non-violence activities for the residents in the communities we serve, like Austin, Garfield Park, and North Lawndale, and also to give resources to different people in those communities,” said Vickey Perkins, assistant administrator of the Prevention Force Family Center. “We provide support for youth, students, families, community residents, schools, nonprofit organizations, and businesses to implement programs and provide resources to the community.”

The upcoming Get Along Summertime Jam is an annual event that Perkins said everyone looks forward to and is very well attended each year. This year’s event is being funded by a $5,000 grant from the Safe and Peaceful Communities Fund. The event is lead by young people who volunteer to assist with planning and implementing the day’s activities along with other violence prevention activities throughout the summer.

“This event brings the community together and the youth that are tired of their family members and neighbors and other people getting killed. They are just getting tired so we want to give them a voice and allow them to say how they feel about the violence that’s going on in the communities they live in,” said Perkins.

There will be another event in October called the Get Along Summertime Family Walk where families are invited to come out and walk the neighborhood to protest violence in the area.

“We have a really nice crowd at the Get Along Summertime Jam. There is usually a range from little kids all the way up to seniors and we try to make sure the seniors enjoy themselves,” said Perkins. “We have entertainment, resources, and refreshments and this event really just lets the neighbors get to know one another because there are a lot of people that don’t even know the person that stays right by them.”

For more information about Prevention Force Family Center or the Get Along Summertime Jam, call (773) 940-1355.

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