INDIANAPOLIS — B4ufall is just what it sounds like — an organization that supports teens and young adults before they fall.
The group is taking their mission to another level by creating a home for boys.
"The city of Indianapolis has a young black male problem. Let them tell it," Shane Shepherd, founder and CEO of B4ufall, said. "They are the ones dying, they are the ones killing. So this is for the city of Indianapolis."
The home will house boys ages 14 to 24 in need of a supportive environment.
"If I can change your perception of your reality or help you see something different then you will move different on your own," Shepherd said.
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With six bedrooms that can house 12 young men, the home at the corner of 30th Street and Tibbs Avenue gives them a place to stay, help if they're food insecure and unsupported at home.
"What are your issues? is it mental health?" Shepherd said. "Is it substance abuse? Do you feel abandoned? Have you been abused? What's your trauma? Let's talk about it."
The goal is to get to the root problem of what's causing them to resort to crime and violence.
"I don't think that I can ever tell a young man to put his gun down," Shepherd said. "But what I can do is put something in his life like finances, a purpose, that would enable him to have a desire to not want to kill people."
So far, 40 people are signed up. All Shepherd needs now are the funds to keep the house up and running. He's calling on the community to step up and step in if they want to fix the crime problem in Indianapolis.
"It's all solution-based," Shepherd said. "I never come to you with a problem. You know what they are dong out here? Everybody knows what they're doing. What are you going to do about it?"
The young men are able to stay for 90 days in the home. It's completely free of charge to them and their families.
