"It's an honor, so thank you. I appreciate it. She's worthy to be remembered," said Dionne Mhoon, Preston's mother.
Preston's South Side community and the neighborhood block club honored the slain Chicago police officer's memory with a new sign for the 81st and Blackstone Block Club.
"We still care, and we still remember. Aréanah was a great officer. Everybody knew her in the district," said former CPD 5th District Commander Tyrone Pendarvis.
Neighborhood residents along with teachers and kids from the daycare Preston's mom runs looked on as the sign was installed Friday morning at the corner of Honorary Officer Aréanah Preston Way.
The sign was designed by a local Chicago artist and is a part of an initiative hoping to bring communities together.
It is happening in partnership with the My Block, My Hood, My City's One Block at a Time program, which is working with 80 neighborhood block clubs in the city to transform their neighborhoods for positive change.
"I'm just praying for Ms. Mhoon. I'm praying for 81st and Blackstone block. I just want people to know change is on the way," said My Block, My Hood, My City founder Jahmal Cole.
The installation took place in the same Avalon Park neighborhood where Preston lost her life.
In May 2023, the 24-year-old was shot and killed during a robbery near her home as she was getting home from work.
"It feels like it just happened yesterday. I look at Are's shoes and I'm like, she's not here. She's not coming back. It's hard as a parent, and its especially hard because she had so much potential," Mhoon said.
Preston was a graduate of Illinois State University.
She had worked for the Chicago Police Department for three years and at the time she was killed, she was due to graduate from Loyola University Chicago with a master's degree in criminology.
The Aréanah Preston Foundation and the school hope to establish an educational endowment there soon.
"Let's not forget that she was a student, a constant student. That was important to her," said Alvin Rider with the Preston for Peace Foundation.
And while those who knew and loved Aréanah Preston still struggle with her loss, they remain committed to keeping her memory and her dreams alive.
"She's gone now, so I have to step in those shoes I see every day and pursue her mission," Mhoon said.