By Police1 Staff
CHICAGO — A Chicago police officer who went above and beyond the call of duty to help kids on the South Side was one of 10 people honored at CNN’s 11th Annual “Heroes of the Year” event.
WLS-TV reports that Officer Jennifer Maddox was honored at the event in New York on Sunday. The event recognizes everyday people who do extraordinary things to change the world.
https://twitter.com/CNN/status/938197620085936128
Maddox began a non-profit program called Future Ties that is dedicated to helping kids and aims to curb violence by giving the youth a safe place to learn and discuss violence in the community. Five days a week, kids in the program receive homework help, mentoring and a hot meal after school.
“They want the same normal as any other youth, to play, to live, to grow up, to have fun, to eventually finish school, and have plans for their future,” Maddox said.
The program has become so successful that students who were once in the program are coming back to volunteer.
Maddox works a second job to support the program, and will receive $10,000 in funding as part of her award.
As part of PoliceOne’s “Quiet Warrior” program, which honors LEOs who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to strengthen the bond between officers and citizens, we profiled Maddox earlier this year. You can read it here.