ORGANIZATION FOUNDED BY POLICE OFFICER HELPS THOSE IN NEED

Jennifer Maddox, a police officer for 25 years, founded Future Ties in 2011 to help families in Parkways Gardens Apartments and the surrounded area with resources and to provide a safe space for the children. Photo provided by Jennifer Maddox
Jennifer Maddox, a police officer for 25 years, founded Future Ties in 2011 to help families in Parkways Gardens Apartments and the surrounded area with resources and to provide a safe space for the children. Photo provided by Jennifer Maddox

ORGANIZATION FOUNDED BY POLICE OFFICER HELPS
THOSE IN NEED

BY TIA CAROL JONES

    Future Ties started out with a thought by its founder, Jennifer Maddox, a police officer for 25 years. Maddox was patrolling area 312, which includes Parkway Garden Apartments, and was getting so many calls for service that she wanted to do something to reduce the number of calls in a way that would be impactful to the residents. She said it was something she wanted to do, but wasn’t sure how to get it started.
     “I looked into the area, surveyed it a little bit and came out of uniform and took a job there working security part-time, so that I could see, observe for myself, talk to the families so they
didn’t feel intimidated by me being in uniform.” She said it blossomed from there.
    Future Ties was founded in 2011 and Maddox said the name of the organization comes from working with future leaders in the Parkway Garden Apartments as well as others across the city.
      According to Maddox, it takes the ties in the communities, including community-based organizations, government
agencies, the health facilities, the churches, and the parks, to be connected so the necessary services can be distributed.
     Maddox said when Future Ties began in 2011, it was a drop-in center where the young people from the apartment
complex could come. She said it was a way to get the young people off of the street and to let them know they had a
safe space to come to after school.
     “We just needed to do something because surveying the land, there were no parks or any spaces where the children could congregate or socialize and feel safe,” she said. “That was one of the big issues we were facing over there, because you had a population of 1200- 1500 youth aged 18 and under without any types of substance or something they could come to after school and be a part of.”
     Maddox said the mission of Future Ties expands constantly because there is so much need. She said the goal is to support families, build their capacity, and give them access to the resources they need, but might not know where to get them.
      Future Ties is open to the community daily, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. There is a team of six families who work with the organization and who come from Parkway Gardens as well as others who come from the surrounding area. Maddox said, at the organization, people can use the computers, receive assistance with applying for jobs, get legal help and receive know your rights training.
     She added, the organization expanded from helping the children to also helping the parents. She said the goal is to have a well-rounded family.
      “One of the things we learned along the way, was that you can’t just service the children. You have to make a holistic
approach where you are working with the family as a whole because the things the kids might be experiencing, they are experiencing those things because of what they see in the household,” she said.
      Maddox said now more than ever, it is important the community sees law enforcement as someone who is there to
help with the community. She said she has been in the community so long that whether she is in or out of uniform, she
gets the same reaction. And, that’s what she wants other officers to get when they come into the community.
     “I want them to be able to say there are officers within our community that do care about us, that are there to help us and to support us. It takes time because there is definitely [a] trust issue that needs to be addressed,” she said, adding, it’s not enough to serve as a resource, but to also follow through.
      Maddox said getting the families where they need to be is how trust is established. She said she hung in there, she stuck in there because she was needed.
     “I don’t know if I picked them, I think they kind of picked me because just coming in there everyday and just watching them watch me, trying to figure out what my intentions were, if I was for real, if I was somebody that was solid. And now, to see how many of the young people I started with have blossomed and have gone off to college and got jobs and moved out of Parkway.
     They call and check in on me,” she said. Maddox said it makes her feel good because it lets her see that she had an
impact on some of the families in Parkway Gardens.
      “It definitely puts a smile on my face that I am giving hope to people who have felt hopeless, give voice to people who have felt voiceless. And, they are coming out of their shell and learning how to communicate and tell people what they need,” she said.
    For more information about Future Ties, visit www.futureties.org

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