Betty’s Hope to visit students

Former NFL running back Warrick Dunn’s mobile bereavement program, Betty’s Hope, will hit the streets of Baton Rouge on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

Dunn’s outreach program is named after his mother, Betty Smothers, a Baton Rouge police officer who was shot and killed during an armed robbery when Dunn was a senior at Catholic High School.

The Betty’s Hope vehicle houses a mobile counseling center that will provide grief and loss counseling to the children of victims of violent crime.

The public is invited to attend a community event at 5 p.m. Tuesday where the Betty’s Hope team will give a presentation at the Family and Youth Services Center, 1120 Government St.

On Wednesday, Betty’s Hope will roll out to LSU for a presentation to students and faculty of the school’s social work department.

Betty’s Hope will partner with both LSU’s and Southern University’s social work departments to provide student internships and volunteer opportunities for the program.

On Thursday and Friday, Betty’s Hope will head to three schools to introduce the unit’s programs and services. On Thursday, the mobile unit will visit McKinley Middle Magnet School and La Belle Aire Elementary School. On Friday, the unit will visit Dufrocq Elementary School.

Each presentation will include a school rally, a speech by Dunn, student giveaways, a tour of the mobile unit and a condensed grief support minigroup for preselected group participants.

East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor-President Kip Holden, District Attorney Hillar Moore III and Baton Rouge Police Chief Dewayne White will attend some of the week’s events.