INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indy Ten Point Coalition has claimed another victory in a neighborhood where its members patrol.
The group marked 1,000 days without the murder of a young person in the Crown Hill neighborhood.
"The last couple of years there's been a tremendous turnaround," said Donny Reynolds, Indy Ten Point Coalition.
Reynolds has been in the Crown Hill neighborhood since 1975.
He says he remembers when violent crime was a major issue in the community.
Now he works to try and curb those problems by talking to the young people who are growing up in the same place he did.
"We just come out and try to communicate and try to provide resources for those that wanna be more resourceful other than in the underground economy," said Reynolds.
Reynolds says it's about connecting young people to the right opportunities.
"If you need jobs, we try to guide you toward jobs," said Reynolds.
Reynolds says he's glad to know he played a small role in helping the neighborhood reach 1,000 days without a youth homicide which Ten Point defines as people aged 12 to 24.
"It's a milestone for this area. It lets us know that the collaborative partnerships in this neighborhood are working," said Reynolds.
Reverend Charles Harrison is the President of the Board of Directors of the Indy Ten Point Coalition.
He says it's important to the organization to share milestones like the one in Crown Hill.
"It just sends a message to the rest of the city. It can be done, and it can be done in your community," said Rev. Harrison.
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Crown Hill hasn't been untouched by violence. There have been four murders in the last 1,000 days of people outside the age range Ten Point targets.
"Most of them have been domestic. Women who have been killed in domestic. What we tried to do was lower the temperature, so we don't have people out here gunned down," said Rev. Harrison.
Rev. Harrison says 26 cities across the country have reached out to the Indy Ten Point Coalition for training on how to try and curb youth violence.
Officials from Cleveland and Peoria, Illinois, were here last week to learn from people involved in the Ten Point Coalition.
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