by Shawn Nowlin
It’s often said that the biggest community impacts are made when all parties involved work together.
Because of a hard-fought $300,000 grant from the Va. Dept. of Criminal Justice Services, the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority (RRHA) was able to launch “It Takes A Village,” a new violence prevention initiative.
Over the program’s two years, families living at Hunt Manor and Villages at Lincoln, two of Roanoke’s public housing developments, will have access to a variety of resources. Among the things offered in the grant include: youth art classes, tutoring and mentoring sessions, large-scale organic community gardening projects and skilled trade training.
Said RRHA Director of Community Support Services Greg Goodman in a statement, “We are taking a whole family approach to this violence prevention grant. Tackling violence and prevention at the earliest stages is the goal. It’s so important to start working with someone when they are a child rather than when they’re an adult and facing legal issues.”
Whether it be through a senseless act of violence or participating in a gun buyback program, most people know someone whose life has been impacted by firearms.
Not a day goes by that Pamela Basham doesn’t think about her grandson Jakolbi Taylor, who tragically lost his life in Myrtle Beach in July 2024 during a basketball tournament.
“He was so much more than just an athlete, he was in the Chess Club and excelled in karate, among other things,” she told the Roanoke Tribune at the time. “The pain that my family and I are feeling is hard to put into words. We were blessed to have him for the 16 years that we did.”
From Basham’s perspective, justice is all that the family wants now. Last November, Gary Abraham, 18, the man suspected of taking Taylor’s life, was denied bond after a hearing.
Now that the grant has been approved, many feel that it will pave the way for limitless opportunities. According to Program Coordinator Abby Reed, the classes and events will run during the academic school year. Acting resident council president at Villages at Lincoln Felicia Jordan-Knight echoes that sentiment.
With grants often being a difficult process, there was no guarantee that this would happen. Now that it’s here, it should come as no surprise that people are ready to roll up their sleeves and do the necessary work.
Additional information can be found at https://rkehousing.org.
