A haunted house and hot dogs: Rockford Police strengthen neighborhood ties with candy and costumes

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — The Rockford Police Department hosted a Halloween event at the Irving Avenue Strong House today, featuring a mini-haunted house, free food, candy, and games.

The event aimed to bring the community together and was organized with the help of several partners, including the Salvation Army and the Community Healing Center. The haunted house, which took about 10 hours to set up, provided scares and entertainment for attendees.

“Just to bring the community together, another tactic to bring everyone together and enjoy the time that they’re spending here with each other, food, music, just happiness,” said the Community Healing Center’s Telena Minson.

This is the third year the Irving Avenue Strong House has held a Halloween celebration. The event has become a tradition in the community, offering a safe and fun environment for families to enjoy the Halloween spirit.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by WTVO. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat a broadcast script into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by WTVO staff before being published.