Brittany Horn

The News Journal

Wilmington summer youth programs are aiming to curb the city's gun violence, especially when it ricochets into the lives of some of the community's youngest residents.

The most recent shooting in the Hedgeville neighborhood left four young people injured Tuesday night, all 16 or younger. One victim was critically injured in the shooting that occurred just before 9:15 p.m.

Now, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware hopes to give school-age kids a safe haven.

"Given what took place the other evening, it's certainly a time when young people need a place to go and some alternatives to the streets," said George Krupanski, CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware.

The summer programs will put the Boys & Girls Club back in the Browntown and Hedgeville communities, places they say are greatly underserved in Wilmington. One program, aimed at younger children, will be held at Pulaski Elementary and will consist solely of Boys & Girls Club programming.

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The other program, through a partnership with Parkway Academy, will offer sports-centered programming in the morning followed up by educational work, arts and technology lessons in the afternoon.

Most of the programming will run from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., along with special trips and activities for camp participants. The Pulaski program is prepared to accept up to 60 students, while the teen program doesn't yet have a cap, said Hilary LaMotte Burke, a spokeswoman for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware.

"Obviously, the teen demographic is a target so we'll hope to engage them the most," Burke said.

Though little programming exists for kids during the hours many shootings take place, data shows that in some neighborhoods, more than half of shootings occur before 9 p.m. Juvenile crime most often occurs between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., Krupanski said.

Some Boys & Girls clubs throughout the state do offer late-night activities, some until midnight.

"We know that whenever you give young people an opportunity to be involved in something positive, they almost always select that," Krupanski said. "Kids don't start off saying they want to be a criminal or a troublemaker."

Earlier this week, a man was shot in the shoulder about 5:45 p.m. in the area of South Harrison and Elm streets, just a block from where Tuesday night's shooting occurred. A teen boy was also shot in the abdomen last Friday. Both were described as stable following their injuries.

The neighborhood has seen other serious violence this year, including a 40-year-old man who was fatally shot in the 1100 block of Elm St. in late May.

Other community organizations are doing what they can to give children a place to go. Girls Inc., which was previously located in Browntown, relocated to Wilmington's East Side to better reach young women in the community around Howard High School and girls in Brandywine Village across the bridge.

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Executive Director Holly Baker Maddams said in Wilmington's East Side alone, there are more than 1,000 girls ages 6 to 18. Nearly 1,000 more live in Brandywine Village, she said. The girls-only programming hopes to begin July 5 out of the new North Walnut Street location. Services available this summer include a day camp that will cost about $5 a day.

Maddams stressed that scholarship money is available for those who can't afford the price. A community open house is set for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at 1501 N. Walnut St.

"It's hard when you live in a situation that is challenging," she said. "The city is struggling. The youth of the city are struggling."

The same effort is ongoing in Wilmington's North Side, where New Horizons Community Center is set to begin its summer program on June 27. Like many of these programs, the organization, located on Concord Avenue near Washington Street, is self-funded and hoping to make a dent in Wilmington's crime.

Already, founder Paul Barry said he believes they've seen a decrease in crime in the surrounding neighborhood. They're also offering martial arts classes that the former boxer and martial arts expert can teach.

The summer program has about 15 to 20 kids that regularly participate, but Barry would like to have more. The camp typically asks for $30 per week, but Barry said he knows some children can't afford that.

"Our major focus," he said, "is giving kids a safe space."

Contact Brittany Horn at (302) 324-2771 or bhorn@delawareonline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @brittanyhorn.