KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City continues to deal with violent crime and one nonprofit is working to help fathers who have children injured or killed as a result of the violence.
On Monday, the death of 16-year-old Way La Baw marked the latest incident where a teen or child was caught in the crossfire of violence.
Andre Harris started Dads Against Crime after the 2020 murder of LeGend Taliferro.
He said the point of his organization is to help men open up about their pain after incidents like those involving Baw and Taliferro.
“We been taught that boys [and] men don’t cry," Harris said. "Boys don’t do this, boys don’t show their emotions. They stuff it. And so, growing up you kind of deal with that. That’s what you deal with. I’m going to figure it out. I’m going to deal with this on my own."
Harris said his nonprofit offers several services to men such as felony expungement, job placement, mentoring and counseling.
“We do free therapy because some men after a loss, they are dealing with emotions, they don’t know what these emotions really are," Harris said. "So, we have a licensed therapist."
Harris said the goal of Dads Against Crime is to support men so those men can support their families.
“[We're] Building our community one man at a time," he said.
