Operation Shoestring holds Jackson parenting community event. See when and where

Parents and children in the Jackson area can enjoy interactive activities and discussions on raising children in the capital city at Operation Shoestring's upcoming event.

The free public event will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. July 13 at Operation Shoestring's base on Bailey Avenue.

Operation Shoestring is a Jackson-based nonprofit focused on providing free, high-quality after-school and summer programs. The nonprofit was founded in 1968 amid the Civil Rights Movement and continues to serve children facing economic and educational barriers in the Jackson Metro area.

The event will feature multiple interactive stations centered on different aspects of parenting including discipline, navigating trauma and the role of religion in families.

The event ties in with Operation Shoestring's latest project, a 35-episode podcast called "Raising Children in Central Jackson: A Series of Oral History Recordings." The nonprofit partnered with the Margaret Walker Center to publish the episodes on the center's website, Spotify and Apple Podcast.

More on the podcast:Operation Shoestring publishes podcast series on raising children in Jackson, past and present

Through interviews conducted by Jackson community members, the podcast explores the challenges and changing practices of raising children in the neighborhoods served by Operation Shoestring. Each episode features a community member telling their narrative, many of those people grew up in Jackson and are now raising their own children in the same neighborhoods.

At the July 13 event, each station will feature audio clips from the podcast. The stations' themes will coordinate with themes found throughout the podcast. Themes include practices for discipline, the shifting role of religion in families and the concept of "it takes a village."

Alison Turner, who led the project as part of her post-doctorate work, said the community event was designed to encourage more engagement with the podcast from the general public.

"We do have the challenge that almost every oral history has," Turner said. "It is hard to get people who are not researchers to listen to them."

Velika Michael, one of the participants in "Raising Children in Jackson," helped organize the event. Michael will run a station that focuses on the "it takes a village" concept. Participants at this station will create collages of their ideal "village" and discuss the importance of having a local support system when raising a child.

While making the collages, participants can listen to exerts from "Raising Children in Jackson" which discuss the same topic.

If you go:

• What: Operation Shoestring raising children in Jackson event
• When: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., July 13
• Where: 1711 Bailey Ave., Jackson
• Cost: free

More on Operation Shoestring:Operation Shoestring receives $2 million investment. See how it will be used

Got a news tip? Contact Mary Boyte at mboyte@jackson.gannett.com