Ralph Durrett hopes to create 'positive childhood experiences' for Indianapolis' youth

Indianapolis Star

9 hours ago

Jeremiah McCurty, 12, stood in front of his peers, demonstrating how to cut a zig-zag pattern into a potato, make homemade French fries and showcase how to handle a kitchen knife.
These were skills he learned from a local chef while attending one of Indianapolis' summer youth programs. He even tries to find excuses at home to make his family food.
Mostly to show them what he had learned earlier that day with Chef Debbie Williams.
Before this summer, McCurty had never held a knife and lacked the confidence to be a center of attention among his peers.
'The program has been pretty fun,' McCurty said. 'I'm making friends and get to learn stuff – if I want – but I mostly get to have fun.'
These are the kinds of stories that Ralph Durrett Jr., Indianapolis' chief violence prevention officer, was hoping to hear after creating the city's new youth program.
Durrett was hired with hopes of curtailing the city's growing problem of youth violence.
It's an issue that is still a focus for many in the city, as just a week ago, Indianapolis police responded to a triple shooting near Monument Circle in which a 16-year-old boy was in connection with the shooting.
In April 2024, IMPD announced it would begin enforcing the state's curfew law for minors to reduce youth crime. Under that law, a 16-year-old cannot be unaccompanied in public after 11 p.m. or before 5 a.m. on a weeknight.
Durrett doesn't believe that harsher punishments are the best way to address this problem, even if many in the community would argue otherwise.
More: Meet the man tasked with reducing violence among Indianapolis youth
Durrett believed that it wasn't the right move to handle this problem.
'When we have the opportunity to create positive childhood experiences, we know that we can push them in a direction that moves them beyond the adverse circumstances they're experiencing,' Durrett said. 'This is perhaps the most important thing we can be doing for (kids) from the city's perspective. Being able to give young people a safe place where they can be themselves and provide them with enriching skill sets.'
Durrett modeled the city's youth program after his childhood experience, where local leaders like Rev. Fred Dorsey created a haven for kids at the now-shuttered YMCA near 10th Street and Fall Creek Parkway North Drive.
'I'm not sure I would be standing where I am today if it weren't for (Dorsey) and the men that were at the YMCA who allowed us to be in that space,' Durrett said. 'It gave us the opportunity to be mentored by men who helped put our lives and my own on a different track direction.'
"It's important to invest in the next generation to help kids escape violence," Durrett said.
Durrett often visits youth-focused programs like Indianapolis' Summer in the City program or Kokomo's Urban Outreach.
He also spends one day a week at the Marion County Youth Services Center, making connections with young people already in the justice system.
'We've been coming here in hopes of opening up minds and hearts. (We've been) pouring them with information about how they can further develop their lives,' said Dorsey. 'It's important for these kids to know that there is a chance for them to do more with their lives and that there is more to life than what we've been accustomed to.'