Kansas City youth learning new ways to grow positively during National Crime Prevention Month

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Youth in our community are finding new paths to success through expert-led, interactive workshops with the help of Camp CHOICE

This weekend at the Country Club Plaza, middle school and high school children are exploring new ways to improve their mental, emotional, and physical health at the “Youth Right to Life Wellness Retreat and Revival Weekend.”

For 13 years, Janay Reliford has met with kids in our community for this weekend activity. She founded the organization with that in mind — help them see a positive way of difficult situations and build positive relationships.

“I do these experiences to educate young people on things about life that they probably think they have a clue about, but they really don’t,” she said.

They focused on fostering resilience, self-care, and a sense of community inside the hotel and down the street at Mill Creek Park. They collaborated, communicated, and had fun while learning more about violence protection, financial education, the importance of being literate, and plenty more on the retreat.

According to Reliford, the Kansas City Health Department sponsored this year’s event but they have several local agencies who wanted to assist in anyway they could.

Those organizations are:

AR Global
Black Philanthropy KC
Black TVs
Dads Against Crime
Dreams K.C.
Fitness 4 Ever
Kansas City Black Mental Health Initiative
KC Mothers In Charge
Rooted and Reaching
Stars Healing Solutions

This is being held during National Crime Prevention Month as well.

So far in 2024, 13 kids 17 and younger in Kansas City are homicide victims and 14 are suspects in homicides.

“13 is 13 too many. We want to be helping them to understand that there are things they can do to impact their environment,” said Reliford.

Markeese Maiden is one of the many who participated this weekend.

“There are some scenarios or people out there that will try to project that image onto you or try to make you seem something that you’re not but you always have to stay true to yourself,” he said.

This year’s retreat at the Hilton Hotel is an experience of a lifetime for many. They were able to explore the plaza for a bit after a de-stressing session in the grass at Mill Creek Park. They learned what it meant to be grounded with their shoes off and chant what they wanted in their life as a group.

Camp CHOICE Youth Mentor and photographer Ameer Abdul-Rahman said they are helping kids find their purpose in life and once they find it, they can live a better life. He said they are building relationships by the moment Saturday into Sunday.

“People opening up more about things they need to work on because here we’re in a community where everyone’s looking to help each other, everyone actually cares for each other, wants to see each other succeed,” he said.