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A Winnipeg organization dedicated to supporting inner kids says it’s hesitant to host its annual block party event this year due to a concerning trend in youth crime.
Kent Dueck, founder of Inner-City Youth Alive, told 680 CJOB’s The Start that violence has gotten noticeably worse among Winnipeg youth over the past few years, and the summer tradition might suffer as a result.
“We used to be able to do these events and it was one great day of happiness,” Dueck said. “You’d have 1,500-1,800 people on the block … everyone having a wonderful time, bands playing, things for the kids to do.
“But now we have to think about the outside possibility that there might be violence.”
Dueck said a big part of the unpredictable and violent environment is drug use — and that many young people are turning to drugs due to an unprecedented uptick in mental health concerns. The impact of the pandemic is also still being felt.
“They’re really stressed out. We’re seeing a mental health crisis like we’ve never seen,” he said.
“We can have a drop-in with 75 kids in it, and you can have five kids who are actively feeling suicidal — saying they don’t want to live. Staff are drawn to that, because you have to care for those kids.”
Advocates think the intensity of recent incidents is concerning, and focusing on prevention is key. “What it really comes down to is how alienated or isolated or alone is that child, because those are the children that fall through the cracks, those are the children we don’t pay attention to,” said community outreach worker Mitch Bourbonniere.
The combination of drug and mental health crises has created a feeling of tension in the community, Dueck said, reminiscent of the 1990s when the city’s gang culture was on the rise.
He said he wants to see bail reform set in motion to solve issues for repeat offenders as he believes part of the issue is that those with the power to make change are disconnected from where it’s happening.
“Nothing happens until people get angry. And I’m seeing people get angry. How many funerals do you have to do to before you say this is happening to people?”
Dueck said behind each incident there are numerous victims. “I attended a funeral of a teenager and I sat in that room and I looked around and said, ‘This is our work for the next 10 years.’ Because it was probably 10 of our youth that witness this murder, and now all of them have their trauma they’re walking with.”
He said the annual block party may still go forward — with conditions — if volunteers are able to get help from organizations like Winnipeg police and the Bear Clan.
— with files from Global’s Marney Blunt
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.