By John Dempsey, WLS-AM News

(CHICAGO)  The south side of Chicago has been plagued by violence for many years but there is apparently one pocket in the Englewood neighborhood where a group of mothers has had success keeping crime to a minimum.

The group is called MASK, which stands for Moms Against Senseless Killings.  Group member Tamar Manasseh told “The Big John and Ray Show” on WLS that her approach to young people is focused on love and respect.

“We bring love and sensitivity to the neighborhood.   We make people human beings again.  We see them as people.  Not as potential inmates or as arrestees.   We don’t see that.   We see them as people.   That’s who we seem them as.   It changes everything,  it changes the whole narrative.   When we treat people like people they behave like people.”

Manasseh says it has been three years since there has been a killing on her block, the 7500 block of South Stewart Ave.   To celebrate, her group held a block party this past weekend that also served as a kickoff to the upcoming school year.    Manasseh told WLS her work with local youth has been a success.

“I targeted them and I recruited them into the gang for good.   I created another family for them.   We create another family.  A family that is all about good and support and helping them find resources, and helping them get their lives on track.”

@ 2017 WLS-AM News