Dallas Cred Violence Interruption Team along with community organizations and the city are hosting a free event at Renaissance Park in Oak Cliff for families on Saturday morning. It's all part of a larger effort to change the environment of the neighborhood park.
Dallas Cred, which is through Youth Advocate Programs Inc., has been on a mission to help curb violence across hot spots in Dallas with boots on the ground.
Saturday's event at the park is to help clean up the park's reputation due to crime and make it family-oriented.
They're calling the event 'The Common Ground Rally' the goal is to offer free and positive events for the community.
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"We can't keep telling people to put down the guns put down the drugs and stop going to jail, we want to offer something in exchange for that by showing you example of what positive results actually look like and the only way we do that is by creating the example first through ourselves," said Mar Butler, program director of YAP Dallas Cred.
The event lasts from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at South Oak Cliff Renaissance Park at 405 E. Overton Rd. in Dallas.
Butler said this is one of just the first of many events expected to happen at the park every month.
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"We want to change the narrative, and in order to do that we know it takes a collaborative agreement amongst those who can make that happen," said Butler. "Our agreement is we want to frequent this park afterwards with nothing but events that are free for families. Information and tasked with two events months per year for family and children."
He said they want to create a new atmosphere of positive living, positive enjoyment, and positive thinking, but they have to do it continuously.