Armed With Hot Dogs, Englewood Moms Keep Street Safe
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Crime is an incredibly complex problem, but it appears a simple solution may be working on one block in Chicago.
Hot dogs, hamburgers and hugs have turned a dangerous street into a safe haven. Behind it all: a group of moms on a mission.
CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker reports Tamar Manessah, a single mother of two teenagers, is recruiting foot soldiers, mothers and fathers, in her fight to save Black lives.
"Just being seen is going to do a lot to stop the violence because nobody wants to get caught after they shoot somebody," she said.
Taking over the streets is a simple solution that's worked in the 7500 block between Stewart and Harvard. The last weekend in June, Manessah and her army of Mothers Against Senseless Killings set up patrols and in the last five weeks, police confirm there have been no shootings on this block. The five weeks prior, there were three.
Manessah says they do it with, "lots of love, constant engagement."
The engagement is food, hotdogs, sandwiches, jobs leads or clothing, if needed and the love is often delivered with a dose of discipline.
The primary message is to the teens on the corners.
"If you go and retaliate, if you go and shoot someone or something like that, then you don't get that job that we've been trying to get you. You don't go to school like we've been trying to get you back in school," she said.
She says they listen to them "Because we're mothers. Mothers are hard-wired to love their children. That's what we do and that's why they listen."
Manessah, a freelance writer, pays for the food out of her own pocket, about $500 a week. She'd appreciate donations but says she and the group will continue patrols every evening until Labor Day. That's when students go back to school and safe passages workers patrol the neighborhoods