SALINAS, Calif. --The Salinas Police Activities League, or PAL hoped to build a center dedicated to stopping gang violence but now money problems are getting in the way.
The Police Activities League needs to raise at least $200,000 before their building across from the Police Station in Lincoln Street can open. Organizers say the money to fund the project isn't coming in as fast as they hoped.
Brandon Hill is the president of the Police Activities League in Salinas. For 8 years he has made it his dream for a place like this to open for children. He says these streets aren't the same as they used to be. "30 years as a police officer with the city of Salinas I've seen the city change from a small community to now a large and very sophisticated community with all types of problems that we have," said Hill.
So far there has been 14 homicides this year in Salinas. Hill says the point of this building is to bring down that number and give more than 2,000 children a place to play instead of joining a gang. The problem is money has gotten in the way of getting the job done. "The interior needs painting. It needs a lot of different things. We're redoing the bathrooms to today's standard not back in the 1930s," said Hill.
So far more than $150,000 has already been used to remove asbestos. Hill says the space has lots of potential. Now the group is reaching out to local businesses for sponsorships to help finish renovations. "The thing is what we don't have is a home. We've never had a facility of our own. We've always had to be with another organization. Here we can affect more kids by having them come out to our center and be off the streets into a safe environment," said Hill.
The group is hoping the new date to re-open the facility will be sometime in August. They're trying to get it open before school starts so children have a place to got for before and after school activities.
President Barack Obama made comments singling out the city of Salinas and its crime prevention. "In cities like Detroit and Salinas, we're helping communities set up youth prevention and intervention programs that steer young people away from a life of gang violence and towards the safety and promise of a classroom," said Obama.
In a speech in New Orleans the president says he's helping communities set up youth violence prevention programs
