by Shawn Nowlin
Gun violence has killed at least one person in the Roanoke Valley every month this year. On Sept. 17, a shooting left another teen boy dead. Preliminary evidence indicated that the shooting was an accident and self-inflicted.
In August, the City of Roanoke Police Department identified the victim of another homicide as 25-year-old Mahdi Holland. Across the nation, gun violence continues to be a public
health epidemic. The numbers speak for themselves: approximately 40,000 Americans are killed by guns every year, more than 23,000 individuals die by firearm suicide, 14,000 die by firearm homicide, and hundreds more die by legal intervention or undetermined intent.
Anytime a person loses their life to senseless gun violence it’s devastating,” explained Roanoke resident Jason Hariston.
Hariston, an Associate Pastor at Kingdom Harvest Church International, further elaborated, “My heart breaks every time I hear such stories because, in nearly every situation, death could have been avoided. The list of Roanoke community members who have lost their lives to gun violence over the last decade alone is staggering number. We recently got a gun violence prevention grant and have already strategized various ways to utilize those funds. For the next 18 months, we will be doing at least one engaging community event.”
Presented by Actively Learning and Loving Our Youth (ALLY), Eureka Park hosted an anti-gun violence kickball event last Saturday. The purpose of the occasion was two-fold, to have the youth engage in friendly competition amongst their peers and the adults as well as encourage them to stay away from gun violence through various activities.
Keeping kids off the streets and away from a life of crime is something Lateefah Trent cares deeply about. In her role as the Youth Services & Education Manager with TAP, her responsibilities include overseeing program development, adopting effective courses of action, and helping children reach their full potential.
As long as she has oxygen in her lungs, Trent will do everything in her power to help keep the youth on a straight path in life. “So many of our youth come from broken homes. We have boys who have never heard ‘I love you’ from a male family member and girls who have been told to not dream big in life. Everything starts with confidence. We instill that in our kids so they can have the mindset that if they work hard and do the right things in life, more times than not, they will be satisfied with the results.”
For more information about upcoming events, visit tapintohope.org.
