ROANOKE, Va. – A Roanoke nonprofit turned the Dumas Center into a stage for children Friday night, offering a public showcase of a new free dance program organizers say is designed to keep young people engaged and off the streets.
The Hope Center of 11th St. is a Roanoke community center that provides food and clothing distributions, as well as tutoring and after-school programs to children in need. Friday night, the Hope Center launched its first “Prevention Through the Arts” event.
“We have the arts program that is a prevention program to get the kids off the street,” said Yolanda Gibbs, who is identified by the kids as Mizz Yo. “Honestly, the first step in preventing violence is to give children something better to do and something to strive for.”…