There is seemingly no shortage of adults eager to talk about what’s wrong with kids today, though not everyone is as quick to offer a solution or a helping hand. That’s why Camp Chambers, a local nonprofit focusing on community outreach to promote educational and life skills, has hosted a month-long series of weekend seminars to do just that.
The “Bullying, Gun Violence, and Parenting Forum” events seek to intervene with at-risk youth, particularly young people in the Juvenile Court system. The October series concludes this Saturday with a forum at Thomas Chapel Baptist Church. We spoke with Camp Chambers co-founder Ressie Chambers about the series.
Memphis Flyer: First, can you tell me a little bit about Camp Chambers?
Ressie Chambers: Currently, our primary focus is to offer a wrap-around service for families. Camp Chambers was started by my husband and me in 2014 and received 501(c)(3) status in 2015.
How did you become involved in working to help young people?
My husband, Jimmy Chambers, is an investigator with the DA’s office and investigates gang and other crimes committed by youth. He also has an office at Juvenile Court of Memphis. He saw that the number of young people (specifically young Black men) involved in gang and criminal activity was alarming and wanted to implement an initiative to steer them in the right direction.
What can parents expect to learn at these forums?
First, bullying is harmful to their children, whether it’s the offender or the victim; second, gun violence is dangerous and shortens young people’s lives in record numbers; and third and most importantly, the need for parenting is imperative, now more than ever!
You’ve been holding the forums throughout October — how has that gone?
So far, everything has gone quite well, and the attendees have shared that it was powerful, and they did learn from them. We have offered Covid shots (by ShotRx) at each event and testing by the Shelby County Health Department (October 2nd and 30th events). We have had several guest speakers attend. Amy Weirich committed to attending all events. Unfortunately, she was out of town and unable to participate in the October 9th event, however, Reginald Henderson, a lead prosecutor in the DA’s office, attended in her absence. Althea Greene attended on October 16th and addressed the group with a powerful message. Our speakers have included citizens from the private, business, and education sectors, as will our last event. Our forums conclude with a skit presented by the law enforcement sector, a Crime Scene Presentation, “Life on the Streets.” The presenters include Royal Chatman and officers from MPD, MGU, and the U.S. Marshals! It sends a powerful message to those in attendance. The goal is for the skit to leave an impression with the hopes they are affected enough to change.
Most of the young people in attendance (90 percent) are males who all have gun charges and must attend a Cease-Fire Presentation at Juvenile Court. Due to Covid, Juvenile Court put the program on hold. My husband shared the information on the forums with his contact at Juvenile Court, and they felt these forums would satisfy the Cease-Fire requirement and change the mind of those convicted of the gun charges. We can only hope we have reached at least one.
Are you happy with the results?
Yes and no. I am satisfied with the results of our efforts and the people that participated, attendees and speakers. We posted on social media, Channel 3 news covered our first event, and digital billboards advertised our event for five weeks. Chick-Fil-A chose our nonprofit as their Community Champion for October, and the Bullying, Gun Violence, and Parenting forums were advertised in the ad that’s currently running. We attempted to bring awareness to the ongoing issues in our community by bringing the community and city leaders together.
My disappointment lies in the lack of parental and city leadership support. Although the parents needed to attend with their child (those ordered to participate in Cease-Fire), many did not. I sent an invitation to every city leader two months before the event; outside of Amy Weirich and Althea Green, I received zero responses. My husband reached out to Rhonda Logan after seeing a post on Facebook of an event she was attending outside of her district, and I received a call from her office last week that she would attend this upcoming Saturday.
I find that often people want to focus on the negative, but you have found a way to acknowledge these problems while working to make the community safer. How do you find a balance in doing that?
It takes more energy to focus on the negative; unfortunately, there are a lot of areas to focus on. On the other hand, focusing on the positive feels excellent, and we enjoy instilling hope in others and inspiring them to be the best. We like to think that we encourage people to change their mindset; that’s the key. When minds are changed, hearts are changed; if you don’t start with the mind, which controls all of our activities, you’ve missed an opportunity to make a difference! We know we can’t save each young person or parent that we encounter, but the reward of knowing that we helped at least one is well worth the effort.
Is there anything else you want the readers to know about?
Yes, to the community, mainly parents, stop depending on the police and city leaders to fix the issues in our city. The fix is simple, parent up and teach your children values, morals, and the importance of respecting themselves and others. If you are not sure how to parent, ask for help. My last thing, please stop recommending more programs for these young people without hosting programs for the parents. Programs will not work if parents are not involved in their children’s lives. Children attend programs and go back to the same toxic environment that caused their behavior; children learn what they live and live what they learn.
The next Bullying, Gun Violence, and Parenting Forum event is Saturday, October 30th, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Thomas Chapel Baptist Church.