MADDADS is indeed alive and well in Minneapolis. Both
on the Northside and the Southside. They are
grassroots men that know what street life is all
about. V.J. Smith is their executive director. He is a
formidable man and very serious about what he does.
The dedication to his mission oozes out of him. The
group works hard to reach out to street types that may
be ready to give up the drugged up lifestyle. MADDADS
and people like them may be the only people that can
reach some of the street people. I think the same
could be said for the work Brother Shane is doing over
north.
Some of the people they reach are ready to come aboard
and live the lifestyle that 90% of other people in the
city live.
Regardless of race, class, religion, etc. the majority
of us spend our days working, going to school, raising
kids, and whatever else we all do. Some of us are rich
and some of us aren't. Most of us have a roof over our
head and food on our table. For some it's Filet Mignon
for other it's mac and cheese.
Few of us wake up wondering where our next hit of
crack or shot of heroine is going to come from. We
don't think about what we are going to wear to go
hookin'. We don't wonder where we are going to sleep
or where our next meal is coming from. These are the
people that line Bloomington and Franklin and streets
in Jordan. These are the people that are terrorizing
the rest of the people living by these areas. The rest
of the people that are good law-abiding citizens just
living their lives.
There are three options here to solve the problems in
Phillips, Jordan and other neighborhoods.
1. Move it (With the way drugs are legislated, it is
our only choice)
2. Convince some or them to get off drugs, change
their lives and get some religion. (Whatever that
may mean to them.) And they will need help to do
this.
3. Put them in jail.
MADDADS focuses their efforts on #2.
The people who live in the neighborhood inandated with
this problem work with anyone who will partner with
them to address #1 and #3. It's a tough job, but, if
you want to sleep nights, you have to do it. Just
sitting in the living room with the curtains closed
feels too powerless, too hopeless. So, they patrol
their blocks and call the police a million times a
day. They attend more meetings then they care to
count. They use NRP funds to provide suvellience
cameras, better lighting, beat patrols, mounted
patrols, personal security items and anything that
might help to lower the crime.
When that doesn't work.......they move and the city
loses!
Barb Lickness
Whittier
=====
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the
world. Indeed,
it's the only thing that ever has." -- Margaret Mead
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