Vicksburg U-Turn program graduates teens

VICKSBURG, Miss. (VDN) — “We all need help at one time in our lives. No one gets to where they are by themselves.”

Those were the words of Vicksburg Mayor Willis Thompson regarding the City of Vicksburg Police Department’s U-turn program aimed at intervening with at risk youth.

The program was in partnership with the Vicksburg Warren Partnership Chamber of Commerce and the the youth court program in Warren County.

This was the first year of the program geared to take at risk youth referred through the juvenile court system and provide them with community member mentors in the hope of stealing them toward a brighter future.

Mayor Thompson also had a call to action for men in the community at the meeting.

“Programs like this only work through partnerships within our community,” said Mayor Thompson. “I’m calling all the men in Vicksburg and Warren County, we need your help. I’m not asking you to do anything I’m not willing to do. I’m volunteering as well with my time because I believe in what we’re doing. So I’m making a call, as Mayor, to every man in this community to get involved.”

Chief Deputy Tommy Curtis also addressed the need for mentors in the community.

“I won’t say this was my vision, but I will say during my time at the police department I saw we needed more emphasis put on our young people because our young people are our future,” said Curtis.

In its inaugural year the program served 22 teens and graduated 15 members. According to Curtis the others are still going through the program.

The police department’s message to the students was that this is a new beginning for a new chapter in their lives and to surround themselves with positive people.