MACON, Ga. — When Mayor Lester Miller's Macon Violence Prevention plan starts to kick in early next year, dozens of organizations and community groups will play a role, including the Bibb County School District.
"Really and truly, it takes a whole village to raise a child," Tanzy Kilcrease, Bibb County Schools Chief of Staff, said.
It's a quote that Kilcrease lives by.
"You know, I'm a working parent. I had three kids go through the Bibb County School District and they're doing well, but it's because of the additional supports provided by the community," Kilcrease said.
Kilcrease says you can never have too much support, and for her children, before- and after-school programs provided the support they needed.
"All students deserve to be safe coming to school and going away from school. However, some of our students experience some unsafe events and activities after school and before school as well," Kilcrease said.
That's why the Bibb County School District is going to partner with community organizations and agencies through the Macon Violence Prevention program.
"I believe that those additional supports, whether it be educational, or social, or emotional, in the morning and in the afternoon, is going to do nothing but make the system much better," Kilcrease said.
June O'Neal is executive director of the Mentors Project in Bibb County, and they are also MVP partners.
"I believe that there's power in community," O'Neal said.
O'Neal says it's important for the community to show up for students.
"A lot of neighborhoods have people that live on the corner of hopelessness and desperation, and if our young people can be engaged in positive activities rather than the street calling their name, then it's a win-win for everyone," O'Neal said.
O'Neal says preparing children for jobs, offering mental health support to those who need it, and getting to the source of violence are all ways to keep children safe.
"If we can encourage and empower young people to be the best that they can be and encourage them to stay out of the street, then that will be a win-win for everybody," O'Neal said.
Mayor Lester Miller said Wednesday that the plan should start rolling out in early January.
That is when the Community Foundation of Central Georgia open up grant applications for faith-based groups and other nonprofits.