Everyone is talking about "The Interrupters" : Final Free Screening/Community Discussion on Wednesday

Sonya Marie Harper
Published: April 16, 2012

Come and see one of the final free public screenings of The Interrupters at Growing Home Wood Street Farm, 5814 S. Wood St., on Wednesday April 18th at 4pm with a community discussion to follow featuring Ceasefire violence interrupters L'il Mikey and Hot Rod who both appear in the documentary film. Violence interrupters Shango Johnson and Ameena Matthews are also expected to contribute to Wednesdays discussion.

The film, which was directed by Steve James (HoopDreams), shows you the everyday lives of “violence interrupters” who take to the streets of Englewood and other violence ridden communities to stop gun violence thru direct interaction with those who are most likely to engage in gun violence.

Ceasefire’s violence interrupters are very influential and successful in their approaches to stopping specific instances of retaliation as they themselves were once in the shoes of those who they mentor everyday. Violence interrupters are made up of ex-gang members, leaders and drug dealers who were very influential at one point in time in the communities they harmed. Now thru Ceasefire, these violence interrupters are giving back to their communities by stopping gun violence in its tracks through their proven methods.

Growing Home is dedicated to uniting with the organizations and neighbors in Greater Englewood in creating and promoting a forum where we can discuss, organize and plan the steps we as a community will take to save our children and rebuild our infrastructure.

Stay tuned to Growing Home for more information about this and other community events.

For more information or to view the trailer for The Interrupters please visit : http://interrupters.kartemquin.com/

About Growing Home ...

Growing Home provides transitional employment and training to Chicagoans who have multiple barriers to employment, such as, having been previously homeless or incarcerated. Through a social enterprise business based on organic agriculture our job training program assists individuals in securing permanent and unsubsidized employment. Our program provides experiential learning opportunities and employment in a local economy, as well as, a unique job readiness curriculum that helps reintroduce participants back into the workforce.

Growing Home’s mission is to operate, promote, and demonstrate the use of organic agriculture as a vehicle for job training, employment, and community development.

http://growinghomeinc.org

Keywords: CEASEFIRE, Community Discussion, Community Meeting, Englewood, Greater Englewood, Growing Home, Open House, Organic Farm Stand, The Interrupters, violence prevention, Wednesdays at Wood St, West Englewood