Harry Webb of West Las Vegas keeps his young sons close to him.
“Anything can happen anywhere. I feel more safe if they're around me,” Webb said.
Between chores, sports, and school activities, his sons stay busy, but Webb said other kids in the neighborhood have too much time on their hands and get involved with criminal activities.
“Sometimes we hear gun fire, we hear sirens all the time,” he said.
Down the block from Webb’s home, near Lake Mead and Martin L. King Boulevards, sits Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church. The pastor, Willie Cherry, wants to change the perception of the area.
“When things happen in the community and people say 'Oh, I expected that to happen', that’s bad,” Cherry said.
Cherry and 11 other church leaders are now planning to do something about it. They’re starting a project known as “The Joshua Brigade”.
They plan to go door-to-door in high-crime neighborhoods to encourage families to get involved with one another.
“We need to get in touch with our neighbors so we can watch and look out for one another,” Cherry said.
Cherry said the churches will organize more after-school recreational activities. They also will help connect adults in the community with resources such as information about jobs and GED programs.
“The only way we're going to have a safe community is if we go out into the community and make it safe,” Cherry said.
The Joshua Brigade will be holding an informational meeting on March 9 at 10:30am at The Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church. The public is welcome to attend.
