NW OKC Families Come Together To Stop Crimes, Improve Community

Drug deals, gang graffiti and even murder. It's a reality along the N.W. 10th Street corridor. But Saturday sparked a hopeful tone in the neighborhoods as close to 1,000 area families came together for a community event.

The message was to get working to stop the crime and improve the area.

"This is a very challenged area. There's a lot of crime, there's a lot of poverty," explained City Councilman Larry McAtee, who represents the area. "We hope to show them there's a better way of life and that they'll carry that forward."

The event, in its seventh year, aimed to get people together since many people who live in the area don't even know their neighbors.

"We believe that the main way to make this community and this neighborhood in particular more safe is to have people know each other. If you know your neighbors, we think that you tend to cause less trouble or there seems to be less trouble. More people looking out for each other," said Joey Allen, with Friends of N.W. 10th Street.

Allen's non-profit organization works with area neighborhoods to improve conditions. He and McAtee agree that the focus has to be on the thousands of children who live in poverty along Northwest 10th St. The whole goal is breaking the cycle of violence and showing the kids that there is a better life out there for them.

Because of the extreme poverty, today's even also allowed families to get free basic medical care from doctors and dentists.