Amid the ongoing challenges with crime in the City of Durham, several youth programs are ensuring children are focused on their future and out of trouble.
RNS Sports
November marks one year since Sherard Johnson lost one of the kids he used to work with to gun violence in Durham, and he said how the late teenager is on his mind when he does outreach in the Bull City.
“It’s hit home, and so that’s kind of why we’re fighting this fight every single day,” Johnson said.
Johnson, who’s the president of RNS Sports, keeps young men off the streets and on the court with his program that also gives away hundreds of pairs of shoes to children in Durham once a year.
“They’re just right in the trenches of everything that’s going on, so, we’re excited to be a positive light in this city,” Johnson said.
So far this year, 24 young people under the age of 18 have been shot, according to Durham Police data as of October 19th.
“We talk so bad about our youth and what they’re not doing, but we’re not really seeing what they are doing and what they’re crying out for,” Johnson said. “We just need to continue to show our youth that we love them and that we’re here for them.”