Northeast News
April 1, 2011
Mattie Rhodes Center hasn’t forgotten about the recent gang violence in Northeast.

Tonight (April 1) at 6:30 p.m., Mattie Rhodes will host a prayer vigil at the corner of 26th and Lawn on the city’s east side to address the increased amount of gang violence, honor the victims of the most recent shooting and call for a calm, safe weekend.

The vigil is being held in the wake of the recent gang violence that killed 15-year-old Jason Rodriguez and injured two teens on March 20.

In 2010, Mattie Rhodes launched the Latino Advocacy Task force (LAT) to provide support services to victims and families of violent crime. The task force has reached out to the families and victims of the latest shootings.

Mattie Rhodes also launched the Violence Intervention and Prevention Program (VIP) in 2010 to address increasing violence in Kansas City’s Northeast community. Through the VIP Program, Mattie Rhodes has worked to curb the violence by offering programming to at-risk youth, as well as providing social workers in several Northeast area schools.