ELKHART — Jason Moreno, an Elkhart resident, is organizing a community meeting to talk about neighborhood safety. The meeting is scheduled to take place 7 p.m. Friday at North Side Gymnasium.

The meeting will include several speakers, who are expected to address safety tips and alternatives to violence.

“I’d like to talk not simply about what we can do like locking doors, but what we can do to address the culture of violence in this area.”

The event, dubbed “City-wide Forum on Violence Prevention,” is being organized in light of a home invasion Aug. 17 at 720 Kilbourn St., where 7-year-old Kristyana Jackson was shot. Representatives from the mayor’s office, the Elkhart Police Department and Elkhart Community Schools are some public agencies that have shown interest in attending the meeting.

Moreno has lived in Elkhart most of his life, having attended Mary Daly as a child. Now a graduate of Indiana University South Bend, Moreno lives on Lusher Avenue with his own family.

“You worry about yourself and you worry about your children. Specially your children,” he said about safety in neighborhoods.

Moreno started working with two other residents, Paul Bertha and Goshen resident Nicky Markin, talking with churches around the community the weekend after the home invasion. After attending a vigil for Jackson Aug. 20, Moreno had been able to collect information from people who had shown interest in attending a meeting about neighborhood safety. He later said he had five pages of names.

“Everybody had some intrinsic motivation to want to improve their community,” he said about those who gave him feedback at the vigil. He hopes to see a good turnout despite other community activities happening that night.

“I’m aware that this event competes with high school football games and the start of a holiday weekend,” he said. “However, for parents, concerned community members, and all of those who love Elkhart in general, there isn’t an event that is more important to attend than this one.”

Additions and corrections: Paul Bertha's name was spelled incorrectly in the original version of this story.