-There is a vast amount of area here
that we want to make into a serene park and garden
for people who have been affected by gun violence.
-This memorial garden is
a place to remember the lives we lost... -Yes!
-The lives we lost, the lives that were cut short.
From that,
there's a saying where flowers bloom,
so too does hope.
-I asked them, “What makes you feel happy?
What makes you feel healed?”
They're painting the planters with words of affirmation.
They're coming up with sunshine. We have flowers.
That's why we have love. We have hearts.
-I wrote “You are an angel of God” and I wrote,
“God believes in you.”
And then over there, I wrote “Be You.”
-My hopes are that
this garden
becomes a place of solace,
a place of healing for the community,
becomes a place where youth in the community
can come to learn, learn about sustainability,
learn about each other.
-This is a place that healing can begin, where families come
and they share their stories and they find ways to help
stop gun violence.
-So my son was killed last year due to gun violence.
Well, for me to be able to come to the space
knowing that it's a sacred time, be a quiet time,
be a time for me just to embrace his presence.
If I need to cry, I can cry.
If I need to scream, I can scream.
So this will be a place where we can come.
When something unfortunate happens,
you know, we can meet even, and just be in unity.
So that's really what this place
is going to be for me.
-Why not now?
Because there is so much violence happening, and
and it's important to start standing up
and speaking out on it and coming together as a community
and not just relying on police or the mayor to fix it.
It's not just on them. This is our community.
Instead of just giving prayers
and thoughts to the families,
let's let's put some action behind it.
So now let's go.