A single mother of five says after her home was burglarized, she’s using it as a lesson to teach her children and neighbors how to fight crime.

Dee Tucker said men used her trash can, wheeled it around the back of her home and propped it up against a secondfloor window to break into her home.

Since then, she has printed dozens of crime tip sheets to put everyone in her neighborhood on alert to help catch the crooks and to be on alert.

“They took television sets, my laptop, a small amount of cash and some other things,” Tucker said.

Tucker said her children are terrified.

“They won’t sleep in their own beds. They keep talking about the bad guys. They won’t even go to the bathroom alone,” Tucker explained.

Tucker said it is turning the burglary into a life lesson for her children.

“I’m hoping it will teach the kids that you have to stand for something,” Tucker said.

And something means calling her friends, family, neighbors with their children and hitting the streets going door-to-door.

Channel 2’s Craig Lucie tagged along with her where he heard several neighbors share similar crime stories.

“I’ve had two cars stolen.  They tried to break in to our house and the alarm went off,” Chris Wylie explained.

Another neighbor was grateful for the crime tip sheet.

 Tucker’s sister said she’s proud of her for taking a stand.

 “People should be warned and what’s going in their neighborhood,” Annie Hammonds said.

Tucker said she is in the process of creating a “Neighbor Protecting Neighbor Program” so she and her neighbors can report anyone suspicious or if there are any break-ins.