Help When You Need It
Are you jobless, or do you feel limited in your current job? Several local organizations can help you get the skills and assistance you need to move up in the working world.

Good Ideas Work
Work. We need it; we love it; we hate it; we dread it. Whatever the case, it dominates our lives by necessity. This GOOD Ideas issue is dedicated to the belief that work should make you happy, content, inspired and, with any luck, prosperous. At least eventually. Whether you've been in the same job for 10 years or you're just (re)entering the job or internship market, you'll find ideas here on how to make your life, well, more workable.
Defensible Space Reduces Crime
"Defensible space is a model for residential environments which inhibits crime by creating the physical expression of a social fabric that defends itself." — Oscar Newman, 1972
Citizen Policewoman
I'm going to be completely honest: I'd never held a gun before. I always thought guns were for thugs and hunters. I simply didn't need one. So it may surprise you that on Saturday, Oct. 8, I spent the better part of the day at the Jackson Police Department rifle range working on my target practice.
The Poverty-Crime Connection
If you struggle to pay your bills and don't know where your next meal is coming from, studies show you are more likely to be incarcerated. Once you fall into that cycle, it's difficult to break out. When people get out of jail, they usually have no money or a stable home to return to. http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/v3/images/uploads/poverty_house_Oskari-Keetun.jpg
Ways to Prevent Juvenile Crime
Grown folks with responsibilities don't have time to be running the streets. At least that's the thinking behind programs designed to keep kids out of trouble by putting them to work.
The Dropout-Crime Connection
What if there was a way to stop people from committing crimes before they started? Fight Crime: Invest in Kids is a nonprofit organization that advocates for quality education and after-school programs as the best way to prevent crime and violence.
Who's In a Gang? Who Uses Crack?
State and local jurisdictions develop their own definitions of "gangs," which can lead to confusion and ill-defined fears of gang violence. The Jackson Police Department does not have an official definition of a gang, but the Mississippi Street Gang Act says that a gang is a group of three or more people with an established hierarchy that engages in felonious criminal activity.
How to Be Safe
When I lived in the Washington, D.C., area, I knew a woman who was repeatedly on the receiving end of crime. She was mugged in the subway, had her purse snatched at a bar, was attacked and raped walking home. I didn't know her well; however, it was hard not to feel badly for her.
Preventing Auto Theft
Auto thefts are usually crimes of opportunity, according to the University of Oakland Police Department's website. They can happen within seconds and are primarily a result of not being cautious and cognizant of the environment. You can decrease your chances of your car being burglarized or stolen by following these tips.
Many Ways to Prevent Crime
The best way to stop crime is to put children on a good path early, help strengthen their families and intervene as needed. These groups do just that in many ways.
The JFP's Crime-Fighting Manifesto
"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall, one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." - Edmund Burke.
Don't Be a Victim
Everyone needs a reminder to review safety rules. But every now and again those rules need to be updated.
10,000 Hours to Genius
They practiced their faces off to be great!
Parenting Styles
Your child may not have come with a handbook on how to be a good parent, but you can learn nevertheless. Many factors determine how you choose to parent. The best parenting, like everything else in life, is about balance.