Press release from Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation:
City Youth Centers Participate in Safe Haven Classic
Basketball tourney is the culmination of Safe Haven Prevention Week
The Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation Department’s youth centers at Weisser, Cooper and Jennings are participating in a citywide Safe Haven Prevention week October 18 – 23, pledging to stay in shape, in school, off drugs, and out of gangs. The week’s activities begin with open houses at the three park sites and end with exciting basketball games at Lakeside Middle School on October 22 and 23.
The registration deadline to play in the Safe Haven Basketball Tourney is October 14. Boys 14 – 18 may enter. The entry fee is $100 per team and each team will be guaranteed 3 games. Competitive teams from Fort Wayne and the Midwest, including some of the best high school basketball players in the area, will be competing.
The Safe Haven open houses will be held from 5 – 7pm at Cooper Center October 18, Weisser Center, October 19; and Jennings Center on October 21.
The week ends with the annual Safe Haven Tourney between area youth centers at Lakeside Middle School, Weisser Park Elementary, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Fort Wayne, beginning Friday at 6pm, October 22 and all day Saturday, October 23. The championship game begins at 7:30 pm.
During Drug Awareness month, eight area youth-serving organizations have created special events to draw awareness to the Safe Haven network. This network includes the three Parks & Recreation Department youth centers, which have come together to form an association of multi-service centers. They provide prevention programs designed to reduce crime and restore neighborhoods, while also coordinating youth and adult services in highly visible, secure and accessible facilities. Established more than six years ago with a grant from the US Department of Justice, this network continues to serve the youth in the southeast quadrant of Fort Wayne.
Safe Havens are Jennings, Cooper, Weisser, Boys & Girls Clubs, Eagles Nest, Euell Wilson, Fort Wayne Urban League, and Old Fort YMCA Prime Time Youth Center.
For more information on safe havens and how to get involved, contact Bennie Lewis, Manager of Neighborhood Programs for Fort Wayne Parks & Recreation.