Here’s how one group is changing the image of Stop 6. And how you can help this weekend.
Teena James remembers when, in 2003, a woman told her the Stop 6 neighborhood of Fort Worth was dangerous.
The gun violence, gangs, and crime scared the woman, who wouldn’t visit the neighborhood.
James, taken back, told the woman she had built a house and raised four children with her husband in the neighborhood.
“I kept telling people how safe it was and how I believed in it,” James said. “We just had to get involved and be a part of it.”
James has always been involved in her community, serving, for instance, as the PTA president for her children’s schools at W.M. Green Elementary and Dunbar High School. In 2003, she started a nonprofit organization, Safe in the Six, that provides resources and collaborative opportunities such as mental health events, clothing distribution and help with transportation.
At 10 a.m. April 27, Safe in the Six will have its 2nd Annual Human Sex-Trafficking and Mental Health Walk for Awareness. It will start at Dunbar High School at 5700 Ramey Ave. and end at Eastover Park at 4300 Ramey Ave.
To participate, register online at safeinthesix.org at no cost.
Participants will include students from the Young Men’s Leadership Academy and Dunbar High School and representatives of the Fort Worth Police Department. Last year, over 50 people attended.
James wants the event to help educate the community on sex trafficking and the importance of mental health support for those touched by it.
The walk is held in collaboration with the 5 Stones Foundation, an anti-trafficking nonprofit organization that works with law enforcement and organizations that deal with sex trafficking. The Tarrant County 5 Stones Task Force was established in 2016 to connect law enforcement with organizations that provide services such as shelter, counseling, job training, and more.
Karen Wiseman is president of the 5 Stones Foundation and met James four years ago at a school board meeting. Wiseman saw James’ passion and wanted to be a part of her community efforts.
Wiseman says trafficking happens anywhere that people are abused, malnourished and financially controlled. Every child deserves to be valued and understand their self-worth, and it starts with parents, Wiseman said.
“Parents need to be aware of what to look for so that they can protect their kids,” Wiseman said. “Because these kids are growing up in an environment where the music, the culture, everything kind of glorifies the whole pimp life and they make trafficking sound like it’s a glamorous life, and it’s not.”
James also wants to change the perception of her neighborhood.
She says Stop 6 has a stigma attached to it because of the gangs that have been associated with it. She referred specifically to Eastover Park, where she said gang related activities occurred.
The park is one of the many beautiful areas that needs more amenities, such as lights, and to have the trees and grass better taken care of, James says.
Her vision is to one day open a place called One Stop Safe Spot where children can feel protected. It would offer tutoring services and meals and be a place for local college students to find volunteer opportunities in the community.
“That’s pretty much my fight, that every child will receive an equal opportunity of receiving high quality education and a safe community where you can raise your family and walk in without feeling threatened, or being harmed,” James said.
