CLEVELAND — The East Cleveland community is working to bring back hope and stop youth violence after a string of violent incidents in its neighborhoods.
Kids at the Broadway Boys & Girls Club have lost friends and family to gun violence, including 15-year-old Emanuel Heard.
“My friend just died yesterday from gun violence,” said Heard.
16-year-old Dyshaun T. Atkins died from his injuries after being shot Thursday night in East Cleveland.
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In the community, Atkins was known as a football player and a resident of the Garden Valley neighborhood.
“He was just, overall, a good friend, he was always there for me, and we used to talk a lot. So, it's just a little traumatic for me, because I didn’t expect to deal with something like this so soon, especially with it being a person so close to me die like that,” said Heard.
The violence towards the young people in Cleveland has taken a toll on the community.
“I’ve been down, but I’ve been trying to stay up and [this] event like today helped me... try to keep my spirits up a little bit,” Heard said.
Executive Director of Cleveland Peacemakers, Myeshia Watkins, said the number one cause of premature death in the US for kids is gun violence.
"I can't even understand how a seven or a 10-year-old is coping that his or her friend is no longer here, and he hasn't lived enough to understand this is a part of life. But it shouldn't be at that age,” said Watkins.
The Broadway Boys & Girls Club wanted to provide a safe space for kids to cope and have fun.
“We've lost a couple members throughout the years, and then we have a lot of members who have lost family and friends. So, it just means a lot that we create a safe space for the community,” said Assistant Club Director, Bee Puthoff.
With the help of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Cleveland Cliffs, the kids were able to plan a community event called “Stop the Violence." The event featured a short presentation by community leaders, a knockout basketball challenge between kids and local celebrities, bounce houses, resource tables, a DJ and games.
“The kids have been super excited about it and getting to put on an event that they know helps the community in any type of way makes them feel good, “said Puthoff
Watkins explained how the community is working to restore hope.
"This event is showing their peers and quite frankly the adults that if you create opportunities for young people to just be young and be kids, that is a violence prevention strategy,” said Watkins.
