Production and distribution of City Club forums and ideastream public media are made possible by PNC and the United Black Fund of Greater Cleveland, Inc.. Good afternoon and welcome to the City Club of Cleveland, where we are devoted to conversations of consequence to help democracy thrive.

It's Friday, June 28.

And I'm Ariana Smith, educational engagement manager here at the City of Cleveland, and honored to introduce today's forum, which is a part of the City Club Criminal Justice series as well as our local hero series.

For the last several years, our local series has spotlighted champions here in Northeast Ohio, whose hard work changes the way we view ourselves and our community.

Today, I am personally excited to introduce to you all a woman who embodies the definition of hero, advocate and leader.

Myesha Watkins has been undertaking some of the most challenging work facing our neighborhoods as the executive director of the Cleveland Peacemakers Alliance, which is an independent, neighborhood based organization dedicated to maintaining peace and keeping young people out of gangs.

The grassroots effort the organization utilizes community violence intervention, targeting individuals ages 14 through ages 24 who face the highest risk of being involved in gun violence.

The organization provides a range of services, including court advocacy, hospital based programs, employment opportunities, mental health services and more.

Many in the room and listening to us today may know Myesha as a licensed social worker.

Youth Development, professional violence prevention experts and close friends.

However, she is also a loving daughter, a dynamic friends, a caring sister, and an incredible mother to two beautiful girls.

Ellen Corey, in the words of her favorite rapper Jay-Z, I believe excellence is being able to perform at a high level over and over.

Now, I don't know who he had in mind when he said those words originally, but I think there is no truer statement that embodies just how matter shows up in every area of her life and in the way that she is intentional about making an impact in her community.

Myesha I'm proud to call you my sister and my friend.

In 2021, my issue was selected to participate in Mayor elect Justin Bieber's transition team and Public Safety Committee.

Then in 2022, she was invited to the White House and recognized for her work in violence prevention by President Joe Biden.

Earlier this year, she was invited back to the White House after she graduated from the inaugural cohort of the University of Chicago Crime Labs, Community Violence Intervention Leadership Academy for the record.

This was the first graduation to ever be held at the White House.

And, of course, Myesha was selected by her peers to be one of the speakers at that graduation.

Today's conversation could not be more important when just this past weekend there was a local shooting here at Edgewater Park, which resulted in the 18 year old man being left wounded.

In addition, there were 16 people that were discovered to have guns that night.

Ironically, just three days later, the U.S. surgeon general declared that gun violence was a public health crisis.

In addition, Attorney General Merrick Garland, Director Steven Daryl, back of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and U.S. attorney Rebecca let go for the northern district of Ohio.

Were in Cleveland for the opening of the new northeast Ohio Crime Gun Intelligence Center this week.

This center will allow law enforcement to rapidly analyze and compare crime evidence seen evidence against a national database, expediting the identification, apprehension of violent criminals.

Today, we will hear from Aisha about how her work aims to de-escalate conflicts before they turn fatal in order to build healthier and safer communities.

If you have questions for our speaker today, you can text 2 to 3 305415794.

Again, that's 3305415794.

And the city club staff will try to work into the second half of our program.

Members and Friends of the City Club please join me in welcoming my Aisha Watkins and oh.

I feel really tall up here.

Good afternoon, everyone.

Thank you.

I feel like we're family now.

My name is Michael Watkins and I am a proud native of Cleveland, Ohio.

My life has taken me all over this great city, so much so that I do not have a single neighborhood that defines me.

However, my best years were spent up and down St Clair Avenue with a special connection to Eddie Ro.

I am a proud graduate of Cleveland Metropolitan School District and Cleveland State University, where I earned my bachelor's and master's degree in social work.

I am a devoted daughter to Debbie and Melvin.

Above all, I am a proud mother of my beautiful daughters.

Allen Corey, now that you know a little bit about me, let's get into why we are gathered here today on this beautiful Friday.

It is not for a marriage ceremony because that's definitely what it sound like.

We are here to gain a deeper understand of what a community based approach to violence prevention looks like and how you can play a crucial role in ending gun violence.

Thank you for joining me on this journey today.

And let's get into it.

It's an absolute honor to stand before you today.

Over a year ago, I was sitting in a forum similar to this, listening to the words of Jasmine Lang, the executive director of Birth and Beautiful Communities.

As I listen to her speak, I feel a deep desire to one day share the impact of gun violence in our communities and discuss strategies and solutions.

Today, the aspiration has to become a reality, and I am truly grateful for this opportunity.

Firstly, I would like to extend our heartfelt thanks.

So the City Club of Cleveland for inviting me to speak.

I also want to acknowledge our funders, community partners and stakeholders who support the work of Cleveland peacemakers to the survivors of gun violence and those who have lost loved ones.

I offer my deepest condolences and solidarity.

I am profoundly grateful to my incredible team at Cleveland.

Peacemakers.

Your trust in me as your leader means the world.

I would like to recognize the staff that are here and those who are who are not.

Mo'Nique Rich.

Marian Patterson.

Andre Taylor.

Myra Phillips and Vincent Evans.

Can you please stand?

Thank you for your efforts in ensuring that those who are at the highest risk of shooting or being shot have mentorship and resources to live a life to be alive and free.

Earlier this week, my work hit home in our most tragic way.

I received the devastating news that my 25 year old cousin, mentor Elijah Junior, had been murdered.

Instinctively, I turned to my work.

I message my team and we all gathered at the hospital to do what we do, to intervene and support.

It wasn't until the next day that the reality sunk in that it wasn't until the next day that the reality of my last truly sinking, my work and my personal life had collided in the most painful way.

Today I stand to you.

Stand in front of you as someone who speaks from the air, not from someone who doesn't just speak from the experience of others, but as a cousin surviving the loss of my younger cousin to gun violence.

I actually to bow your head and join me in a moment of silence for the life of Mandrill Hodge Junior, who left this world on Monday, June 24th, due to a homicide.

In honor of.

My cousin's life.

We also honor those who have lost loved ones to community violence, firearms violence or fire or suicide by firearm.

My heart is with you all.

I want to take a moment to reflect on our work.

Our work is not just a job.

It's our lives.

It's about the people we love and the communities we protect.

The work of Cleveland peacemakers is essential because it addresses the root causes of violence and provide real solutions.

But it also reminds us of the importance of resilience, empathy and unwavering commitment to our community.

Cleveland Peacemakers is a community violence intervention organization, and I am honored to serve as the third executive director.

We are a grassroots organization working with individuals at the highest risk of shoot in Urban Shot to provide lifesaving interventions, resources and mentoring to prevent fatalities and incarceration.

Unfortunately, many people don't understand what success looks like in our work because they focus on bloodshed rather than the life affirming and lifesaving contributions we make.

When people ask about our work, they'll say, But people are still dying.

And I look them in the eyes and say, You're absolutely right.

There is no single program that can solve the problem of this magnitude.

Gun violence in our country is a disease.

Addressing it requires systemic change.

One of the ongoing discussions in our work involves the relationship with law enforcement from the community's perspective.

Collaborating with law enforcement can often endanger the lives of those working within the community.

It can damage their credibility and ultimately erode the trust and relationships we have built with individuals striving to change their lives and live safely.

Law enforcement, on the other hand, frequently hesitates to work with individuals who have been system impacted or those they perceive as uneducated.

There are likely other reasons, but I am not a law enforcement officer.

I can only speculate.

However, significant efforts have been made to build a professional bridge and foster mutual understanding.

The goal is to collaborate in a way that does not jeopardize the credibility or safety of community workers while addressing the biases that law enforcement may have against partnering with skilled individuals who have proven who has a proven track record of interrupting violence and saving lives.

We need to set aside personal differences and develop protocols that allow us to work together effectively.

By clearly defining our receptive roles and responsibilities.

We can complement each other's work efforts to create a safer Cleveland.

This collaborative this collaborative approach is already happening in other cities across the country.

Those cities have perfected the relationship between community violence, intervention organizations and law enforcement.

They have seen a significant reduction in gun violence.

One example is Detroit, Michigan, which is just a short distance from here.

Imagine a Cleveland where law enforcement and community violence intervention organizations can work together fully understanding their goals, roles and responsibilities.

By doing so, we can avoid asking anything from one another that might further harm the trust within a community.

Let's strive for this level of collaboration and create a safer Cleveland for everyone.

Just this week, the U.S.

Surgeon General released a statement declaring gun violence a public health crisis.

He emphasized the need to shift the conversation from a political issue to a public health issue.

This is similar to how we want to address the widespread issue of people driving without seatbelts.

By recognizing it as a public health concern, we implemented changes that save countless lives.

Now, if we apply the same approach to community violence, to community gun violence, we would often what our response change.

What would the language what language will we use?

What efforts will we undertake?

What level of investment will we make if we truly recognize gun violence as a public health crisis, rather than a problem that's affecting certain people, races, groups, or cities?

Consider this.

Gun violence is the leading cause of premature death for all children and teens in our country.

How does that make you feel?

Look around this room and see the faces of all of these children, including my daughters.

Knowing that their lives could end due to a preventable issue like gun violence is a harsh reality.

Black children and teens in Ohio are seven times more likely than their white peers to die by guns.

Community violence intervention is a term to describe the work.

People describe the work people have been doing in their communities for far too long and often times without funding.

I stand on the shoulders of those who have carried out this work with sweat equity, credibility, tears in their eyes, trauma in their heart, and a commitment to say, If I once contributed to the destruction of this community, it is my responsibility to restore it set out to be.

Many specialists in this movement often say, I would do this for free.

However, our language has evolved.

This is community work and not community service.

Individuals working for Cleveland peacemakers and similar organizations across this country risk their lives and dedicate their time, often times sacrificing their families to make sure that those who are at the highest risk of shooting or being shot can be free.

They do this work with incredible passion, but passion alone is not enough.

It is time for the city, state and country to financially support the efforts that have been carried out for free for so many years.

I want to acknowledge a few of the incredible individuals and organizations who have dedicated their lives to interrupting violence in Cleveland communities.

Cleveland Peacemakers.

James Box.

Kelly Samad.

Art McCoy.

Carlos Williams.

Mike Walker.

New Era.

Cleveland Charles C. Fred Ward.

Hank Davis.

Black on Black Crime Blend.

Brenda Glass.

Guardian Angels.

Grady Stevenson.

Children at Play.

Councilman Richard Starr.

Renounce, denounce and get therapy and many more.

I stand on your shoulders and I am deep.

I deeply respect the work that you do to those I have admitted.

Thank you for all that you do to create safer communities.

I am grateful for the leadership of the Biden-Harris administration, which has taken significant steps to address this issue for the first time in 30 years.

They passed the bipartisan Safer Communities Act, investing in cities, investment in cities, states and programs like Cleveland.

Peacemakers should continue this work nationwide.

They also created the first ever White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, led by two survivors of gun violence.

The bipartisan Schaffer Act, the first significant gun safety law to pass in nearly 30 years, made $15 billion available for violence prevention.

Again, gun violence is the leading cause of premature death for children and teens in our nation.

Since 2006, it has been the number one cause of premature deaths for black men and boys.

Gun violence has always been critical.

Often overlooked because of who is most effective.

Now it is finally being acknowledged and addressed at the highest levels of government.

Locally, Mayor Bibb Administration has launched the Neighborhood Safety Phone, a $10 million initiative house at the Cleveland Foundation, established in July 2023 with the ARPA funds from the city.

This funds aims to support programs and organizations targeting the root causes of gun violence, particularly among young people.

It is time our work.

It is time that our work receive the investment it deserves.

And I am thankful for the leadership that is making it possible.

As I stand here today, it is crucial for me to raise awareness, education and to create opportunities for partnership.

So let me share this in my own way.

And I can only do it this way.

Have you ever been to a barbecue?

That's was not yet.

Yeah.

Okay.

Okay.

You know the kind where you are excited.

There are so many options.

Like your favorite side drinks and great music.

Everything creates the atmosphere of possibilities and choices.

Think of a barbecue as an ecosystem and an ecosystem.

It's not just people with the same perspective.

Just like at a barbecue, is not everyone bringing the same dish at a barbecue.

Everyone brings something different, like cheesy, gooey macaroni and cheese with the perfection of a crisp pop.

You know, I'm hungry.

Similar to our work to reduce community violence.

We need diverse perspectives.

Each person, whether they come from community hospitals, courts, schools, returning citizens who have no system, impact their local government, county government, federal government, children and victims and perpetrators of gun violence.

We are bringing something unique to the table.

Together, we can create a vibrant, supportive community like a barbecue.

The ecosystem we need in Cleveland involves diverse perspectives.

Our focus on eradicating community violence, particularly gun violence.

What would it look like if we all donated our time?

Do you have people in your systems or organizations who have been impacted by community violence?

Have we included survivors of gun violence or those who have lost loved ones?

What we need to think about our humanity and ask ourselves, How can I help?

Who should I call?

What do I need to support?

Who do I lift up?

How do I communicate and collaborate?

My call to action for you is to conduct a self inventory, reflect on your organization, your role, your network, your heart, your love for those who you serve or who you would like to serve.

What can you do to ensure that not another life is lost to gun violence?

I want to hear from you.

I'm going to share my phone number and you can email me and let me know what your thoughts are.

Let's create an incredible barbecue, our ecosystem where Cleveland and neighboring communities come together to say that even one life lost to gun violence is too many.

What will you do and when will you do it?

Despite the state's gun homicide rate increase and over the past decade higher than the nationwide increase, lawmakers recently passed a dangerous shoot.

First law encouraging violence in public and eliminated the requirement that a person get a permit and safety training before carrying a concealed weapon in public.

Lawmakers also recently passed a dangerous law which allows K through 12 school teachers which allow K through 12 schools to arm teachers.

I understand how much professionals appreciate data, so let me share some key statistics with you.

For those interested in exploring further, I have printouts available for a more in-depth look at survivors, families, communities, employers and taxpayers.

We all pay an enormous cost associated with the violence.

Whether we own a gun or not.

The daily toll is staggering.

So I don't know if you all want to take out your pen and paper.

But taxpayers, survivors, families and employers pay an average of $7.79 million daily in health care costs, including immediate and long term medical and mental health care.

American taxpayers pay $30.6 million every day in police and criminal justice costs for investigation, prosecution and incarceration.

Employers lose an average of 1.47 million on a daily basis, and productivity, revenue and costs required to recruit, train and replace the victims of gun violence.

Society loses 1.34 billion daily in the quality of life costs.

Gun violence in Ohio versus the national.

All ready for this.

So in Ohio, 177 children and teens die by guns every day.

Nationally, 4094.

In Ohio, 31% of all gun deaths among children and teens are suicides.

And the nation is 31% also.

65% of all gun deaths among children and teens are.

And how much are homicides in Ohio?

63% are nationally.

Gun violence cost Ohio $22.3 billion each year, of which if you're a taxpayer, raise your hand.

You pay your taxes by paying taxes, which taxpayers pay 493.7 million.

So when you think about gun violence, whether you're directly or indirectly impacted, this is a problem for all of us.

Often times people believe that they're not a part.

This is not their problem because gun violence have yet hit their community or their lives.

But we all pay for the disease of violence in our country.

Therefore, we all have a responsibility to show up in an average year.

Gun violence costs America $557 billion.

40,000 people are killed each year by guns and 40,000 more are wounded.

So a little bit more math.

You are ready for more mad.

So 5557 billion in gun violence costs 2.8 billion and medical costs 53.8 billion.

And work loss costs 11 billion.

And police and criminal costs.

Point 5 billion.

And employer costs.

489.1 billion.

And quality of life costs.

If we have not been responding to violence, what could we have done with $557 billion in our country?

The all know I know I have some outfits that I'll buy.

Okay.

So as I close, a public health approach to gun violence is a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary strategy that brings together institutions and experts across various fields.

So this is an ecosystem to develop evidence based interventions.

This approach has been successfully used to address other public health crisis things such as polio, smoking related deaths and car safety.

And it has the potential to significantly reduce gun violence by addressing its root causes.

So I'm going to give you four things.

You can either voice work or use your notes.

Write it down or take a picture.

So, one, we're going to define and monitor the problem.

So we'll collect reliable data on gun violence.

We will utilize standardized definitions.

We'll ensure that data is open to the public with transparency and awareness to will identify the risk and protective factors.

So recognize individual risk factors.

And you can think about yourself when I'm listing this off the access of firearms, the history of violence and the substance abuse.

That's where the individual every relate as we address the community level factors.

Poverty, lack of economic opportunities and structural racism.

As I read that off, you're probably thinking about a few communities in the city of Cleveland.

Promote.

Protect the factors job training, educational opportunities and mental health support.

So we have Cleveland peacemakers.

We have new era Cleveland.

We have renowned females.

We have research with Dr. Sarah Sweeny, we have Dr.

Hull, we have the trauma center.

We have ideastream.

We have all of these different people that are gathered in this room in addition to the mayor's office, that are trying to work together collectively to figure out how can we all address those risk factors and protect the factors that they're one to develop and test prevention strategies implement universal background checks of firearm license license.

Create targeted interventions for high risk individuals and communities, and invest and invest and invest in community based violence intervention programs to de-escalate conflicts and provide support.

The last one ensure widespread adoption of effective strategies.

Enforce and implement strong gun violence prevention laws.

Involve historically disenfranchized groups in a process to prevent unintended consequences and allocate funds for training and evaluation of policies and programs.

So here is my call of action.

I feel like a teacher.

So recognize gun violence as a public health crisis.

Support and advocate for data collection and research.

Promote and participate in community based interventions.

Encourage policymakers to implement and enforce comprehensive gun violence prevention laws.

And address the root causes of violence through social and economic policies.

Thank you for being here today.

I look forward to you all being a part of the ecosystem as we gain a better understanding of what community what a community based approach to violence prevention looks like.

Thank you.

I mean, wow.

Okay.

So we are about to begin the audience Q&A for our live stream and radio audience or those just joining.

I'm Ariana Smith, educational engagement manager here at the City Club of Cleveland.

Today we are joined by Michael Watkins, executive director of the Cleveland Peacemakers Alliance, as a part of City Club's criminal justice and Local Hero Heroes series.

We welcome questions from everyone city club members, guests, students and those joining us via our live stream at City Club dot org or radio broadcast at 89.7 W KSU Ideastream Public Media.

If you would like to text a question for our speaker, please text 23305415794.

Again, that's 3305415794 and the city club staff will try to work it into the program.

We have our first question.

Please.

Good afternoon.

Thank you for sharing all that information.

It's heavy and I appreciate your courage in this work.

I think about resource allocation.

You know, we're on the 30th anniversary of the 1994 crime bill.

It's $20 billion for community and police, 10 billion for the prison industrial complex.

The 20 billion dried up.

The 10 billion got invested to by our entire legislative bodies so that they can continue building out the prison industrial complex.

I guess what we need is a violence intervention industrial complex.

And how do we how do we structure this in a way where our elected officials are inspired by their lobbying money to serve us?

Thank you.

Thank you so much for that question.

That's a that's a really great question.

When we think about investment, oftentimes the greater community think about law enforcement as the only route to public safety.

And with our approach is how do we put the public back into safety?

How do we empower people like in this room who are doing work to keep people safe?

That does not always make the headlines.

How do we invest in them for prolonging the lives of people who could have lost their lives to fatalities, to street gangs or any other barrier that's put against them?

I think how we get law and policy makers and council people and city government, county government more engaged is that we have to start collaborating more on a ground level to show up United as a friend.

And too often it has been a competitive spirit because it hasn't been enough money for us all to do work.

Therefore, we compete against one another, and so we all come together and create that barbecue like ecosystem.

They're going to continue to find gaps in the work that we do because they don't find unity.

So the call of action.

So organizations in this room that have a historical context of competing, we have to collaborate and show something strong.

Can unite it to our city, local, state and county officials to say that we can do the work that we've always been doing and we're gonna come back stronger and get paid to do it.

So I think that that's a that's the way.

So thank you.

My question is, well, we've got a non-police care response pilot program starting up in the city this year in two zip codes.

And it's focused on non-police response for behavioral mental health, sending a clinician, social worker and a peer responder.

How do you see the work that you are doing and renowned stimulants like fitting in or intersecting with that work?

Because it's not exactly the same work for sure.

But it's it's about removing police from the equation to some degree and reducing the need for police activity.

So I'm wondering how you see those those as pieces of a puzzle, perhaps?

Absolutely.

There are so many opportunities.

One thing that I can share is that Cuyahoga County is one of the most well-resourced counties in the country, and we don't have a shortage in programs or innovation.

But what we do have a problem with is collaborations, hence the reason why we work in silos.

If there is one problem, know that there is 25 programs that's addressing that problem.

And if we're good together, we can create a larger footprint and impact.

So I think what needs to happen is when we think about this ecosystem, to think about who's working in intervention and prevention and restorative services so that just because we can do it doesn't mean that we should.

What is something that you do well, that, you know, if Rinaldi announces focus in and gang involvement and getting people who are in gangs to denounce their affiliation, I don't need to do it even if I can, I don't need to.

So how do we identify?

Similar to what I spoke about law enforcement, identify goals, roles and responsibilities for us all to work together in a collaborative space so that we can serve more people and save more lives.

I think that you should invite a conversation with new area Cleveland.

Cleveland Peacemakers and Rinaldi announced to be the start of How do we create a corresponding model where we can use less of law enforcement so they can do what they need to do?

And then we can do what we need to do as a community organization.

Hi myself, I'm Jones Perl.

You know that director of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library at Literacy Co-operative.

And I'm also president of the University of Chicago Alumni of Ohio.

So I have two part question.

One is what do you see is the role of investing in the children in the earliest years through programs like Imagination Library?

And if you have a story to share about your own children, go ahead.

Secondly, I'm just curious, what was your greatest lesson or learning that you took from the Chicago crime lab like what?

What did you learn about that?

Maybe we are doing here locally or what we aren't doing that we could do for great greater impact.

Thank.

Thank so much.

Leave it to the teacher to give me 30 questions and one so bares the importance of literacy.

We know that Cleveland has a literacy gap and in some areas there are kids that are not reading at grade level, particularly in councilmember, just our area where he is working hard to improve the literacy, get.

I do have a story as it relates to how education can and with young people can help support the work that we're doing in communities.

There was a shoe in and four or five and our team was there at the scene and there was a group of kids that was walking around looking at the body that was still left under the White sheet in a community.

And my team went and grabbed a football to engage in a distraction activity with a young person so that they're not constantly looking at a reminder of what continues to happen in their community.

So invest in a young people and read.

And I think we had a conversation about what would it look like to have a mobile RV pull up to scenes where shots are fired and engage those young people and read it and play?

While people who are responding to violence are able to support the community them.

So reduce the chances of further retaliation or further harm.

So I think that there is an opportunity for you and your organization to do that again, create an ecosystem.

I don't know if you want to be the macaroni, maybe you can be there.

It's a great barbecue sauce.

It's up to you.

As it relates to my children of last year, Cuyahoga County is one of the most well resourced counties in the country.

My daughter Corey participated in imaginations Station and we have books delivered to our house every month.

And because of that opportunity to read and engage with my daughter, she is now in a gifted program for reading.

So I thank you for sharing that opportunity because I started with a free book.

Maybe I didn't take her to the library often, but I knew every month a book was coming to our house to engage in her reading the program at the University of Chicago, the first inaugural cohort, it was 31 people from 21 states, and I was a part of it.

And how it has helped me is that if I ever have a problem that I feel is too big.

I have 30 other people from different cities and states across the country that are working on the same problem.

So a set of acts and Google to help me with something.

I can call someone from Detroit or DC or Houston or California to say, Please send it to me now I need help.

Or Please come to our city and provide a free training based on our cohort education so that could get closer.

So where I know we can be.

So that's what I would say, Cleveland is we have all the pieces to do everything right.

We just got to let the historical trauma that brought us apart allow the allow the data point that kids are dying from gun violence, be the reason that we come together.

Hello, my name is Isaiah McClain.

My question is kind of about how we're going to influence kids who are actually pulling these triggers.

So right now, we know there is a lot of young children who are being killed, but there are also children who are killing because they feel like they have no other option and they don't want to listen to a daughter who are trying to stop them.

So what is your plan to try to help.

These kids and get them from going through the.

Wrong path?

Yeah.

Thank you for that question.

That's a great question.

So I think at a community level, what our plan is and what it has been for many, many years, it's the bill relationships with young people who feel like violence is their only option.

Young people who may not be violent or criminal but afraid.

Right.

If you live in a community where violence is high and you hear shots fired every night and every street pole you walk by has a balloon or a teddy bear or a bottle.

And the gas station that you go to for your grocery store or to hang out or meet your friends is also a hotspot for violence, you're saying?

Well, I rather get caught with a gun than what I don't want.

And that's not the mindset to have.

So the importance that my teen renounced.

Now, I knew Eric Levi spent hours and hours with one person to get them to change their lives, to put down a gun.

But it's often times overlooked because the headline still reads that there was a shooting at Edgewater.

But on the back end, there could been shootings at Edgewater.

Have it not been for these man who are tirelessly and relentlessly having conversations with people who have guns on them and with them in conversations and will oftentimes threatened them if they don't back up.

But the reality is, is they continue to show up so that the lives are prolonged and people are really putting down your guns.

I had a staff never text me my son.

I'm supposed to be here today, but I have a graduation of our participant who is a shooter and he's graduating from high school.

What should I do?

Why would you ask me that question?

Golfers are supposed to participate.

So we have a person who now success.

Looks like I put down a gun.

I'm graduating from high school, and I want to know what's next.

But if it had not been for that relationship, we would have had one more headline that read whatever the headlines read.

So I think to answer your question, it's about investing in people who have the relationships to change the hearts and minds of people who live in communities that's impacted by violence, where they feel like they have no choice and create that choice.

I have a question about how do you respond to, quote unquote, failures in your field of work and the need for actual long term investment in data and metrics when you're seeing this surge in funding?

Usually we see funding and people are excited about it, but they're not willing to commit to that long term result that we're looking for.

But you see that in policing.

We've had this experiment for a long time that has not led in to really viable outcomes for certain communities when it comes to this violence.

So how do you respond to those failures and that need for a long term investment?

Yeah, so I, I'm in rooms with conversations like that often and what I try to do at this bigger age, because when I first started five years ago, I was flipping tables over and yelling at everybody.

But I've matured.

I even got a crease in my pants.

But what I would say is that in this work there is no failures.

But the lack of investment can lead to death.

And because of that, that's a responsibility that we all have to take.

When I'm in a room full of people, I often look for ways to call them in and not call them out, but hold them accountable.

A lot of people want to invest for near-term results, for a problem that have went as far back as I can remember and even before that.

So and having conversations, the issue is like, I need reliable funding and I need sustainability.

So if you want to invest and the one staff member said, meet with six people swiftly, I don't want that.

So sometimes you have to turn money away because people don't see the investment of people long term, but they want to create something where they can check it off and say, I did invest in a focus group, but not the change.

What do you expect to change, though?

You have to be able to articulate the vision and you got to hope that you can pull on the heartstrings of some people.

But I will be honest, black people, the kids dying don't always do it for people and no matter how sad it is.

So then.

So you see, I read numbers.

What's the bottom line?

What's the return on investment?

And it's unfortunate that we oftentimes have to speak that way, but people want to know, if I invest in a year program for $1,000,000, what would that give me?

Well, a homicide cause $1,000,000 in the city of Cleveland, even if I save one life.

You got your return on investment.

What's that?

So that's.

That's how I kind of had a conversation.

Where are you showing up?

Under what circumstances?

To whom are you speaking?

And what are you saying in doing that?

Oh, that's a that's you think that's basically that's a real classic.

You got you had to take me to lunch for that question.

So I have a staff of six people and unfortunately, we can't be everywhere all the time.

But the cool thing is that there's other groups and spaces where we're not.

And if we did a great job at tracking data and working together on the ground, we will be able to identify and which wars and which communities and what services we are providing.

So those communities that are impacted and to those families who have survived the loss, what I can say, our work shows up and I would call hard my staff.

What I would say is that our work shows up in courts, in hospitals and schools and in communities when we are alerted either by the community or by the Community Relations Board that somebody is shot, we deploy to that scene where this fire and that moment, what we're trying to do is to de-escalate and calm down the community, to limit gossip spreading, and then to also support the family of the victim.

Then also deploy at a hospital to short to ensure that the most heightened emotions are lessened and that we support the family there.

And there are situations where we will do community in different wards.

We will partner with council people if they call, but we do not have the capacity to be everywhere all the time.

But we will.

We have the really great it is collaborating with organizations to increase their reach numerically.

We just had a Juneteenth event because we don't need to host one because they do.

We just supported their event.

It showed up.

So it's on the ground partnership to show up in different ways.

If their message is love and our message is intervention, we can do love and intervention together and share that data to say not only that we engage 20 people, but we engage 200 people.

What's the partnership?

A collaboration.

One birthday.

So we show up for victims of gun violence, perpetrators of gun violence, their families and the community.

There's a lot of people that do positive loitering in places that people don't want them to be.

And we come with resources, engage them where they at, and then hopefully move them to something where they feel a lot more safer.

And that can limit their interactions with law enforcement.

If not, I like Panera Bread.

Feel free.

Good afternoon.

My name is Greg Johnson and I was ask a number of people here know me already.

I'm a troublemaker, but you give an outstanding presentation and I applaud you.

I was asked a few months ago and Dad knows this.

I was asked by the United Nations to open a chapter here in Cleveland for the domestic arm of where there's 200 chapters throughout the United States.

My question, though, I have a question and a statement.

All right.

Is peace possible here?

That's my question.

Okay.

Don't answer it yet.

Okay.

I'm going to give some information and I hope everyone hears this.

Cleveland is listed as a listing title, International Cities of Peace and you for this.

Cleveland is listed on is among those that's listed on the on the listing if you look it up.

Everyone's got two little computers or whatever.

Look it up.

International cities of peace were listed.

There are 405 cities listed.

We are listed amazingly, you know, taking taking into account the data that you gave.

We're listed at 401.

Now, that doesn't get you excited, I'm sure.

However, there's another city in on the list.

That's number one.

And it's also from Ohio.

Obviously, it's not Cleveland.

I'm not going to tell you who it is because I want to look it up on your own to do your work.

All right.

But we're 401.

There's the number one city in the world for international cities of Peace is in Ohio.

We have a lot of work to do.

I'm complete.

Thank you.

As a peacemaker, I absolutely do believe that peace is possible.

But it depends on through what lands are you looking at?

Peace.

Peace looks different for every person.

So have you asked yourself what this peace look like for me?

Then I think we'll be closer to what peace can look like for all of us.

I can go into a space and say, No justice, no peace.

And somebody else is saying, Watch me, we've handled it.

That's not what I'm talking about.

So we have to be able to look to have conversation, to see what lens are you looking at?

Peace through to be able to get closer to a community of peace.

Because if there is no alignment and we look at peace differently, then we're going to continue to butt heads and we'll spend more time arguing that it's possible or not possible.

And while we're doing that, people are dying.

So we really got to try to figure out there is mochi lands this that we can look at through violence prevention, through peace, and through anything.

People look at love differently to somebody to tell you they love you and you like that I love.

But it's love for them.

So action self through what lens am I looking at peace through?

And then do everything in your power to get closer to allowing us to climb up.

Because now we're collectively working together to create a collective action and impact.

But I do believe that it's possible.

I mean, 400 slack, we got it.

We can do it.

I mean, this is a start.

We can do it here.

I'm hopeful peace can be a lifestyle.

Okay.

I'm with Maisha.

I'm Celeste.

I'm with Youth Opportunities Unlimited, and I work in the classroom during the school year every day.

And I've had the privilege of having you and Mr. Vincent in my classroom and done in May of this year, the Cleveland Plain Dealer had a series of articles titled Delinquent.

And in that article, they about how Cuyahoga County sends more youth to adult detention centers than any county in Ohio.

And I have kind of questions.

I apologize.

One is, has Cleveland peacemakers or other peacemaking alliances talked with the mayor's office with regard to getting the Cleveland peacemakers into those juvenile detention centers in order to decrease recidivism with our youth?

And to what is, in your opinion, if if we're thinking at the youth level, what is the most powerful way that we can impact our youth from an adult perspective?

I don't know if that's clear enough.

Now, you good?

That's great.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And it's good to see you again.

The bind over rape in Cuyahoga County is thickening.

There are several groups that are doing work behind the was one of them being new, eric cleveland who just did a rites of passage group.

It continues to do that.

I think their first graduation was like 70 people or so, so shout out to them.

I will also say that the Cleveland peacemakers are also doing work behind of anyone in every week, twice a week, five days at my best.

That after five days a week.

See, that's.

That's why I got to teaching five days a week.

So talk to young people ages four C help me out 14 to 17.

And I had the pleasure of going in there one day and I was talking to them and they were mostly young people who have had guns.

And one person said, The reason why I decided to shoot is because somebody killed my brother.

That was his way of honoring his brother's life, which was really unfortunate.

But then he said, and he oftentimes say is who would you die for?

And I'm just saying that's who you are.

Who would you die for?

You don't have to answer.

What would it look like to live for those same people and what would it take?

So we have people that are doing work, kind of what at a city level, a community relations board is also working with young people behind a wall to help slow down recidivism and then connect them to community service programs.

This way, as it relates to talking to the mayor about that problem.

Cuyahoga County is the level of government that we'll talk to and we have been in for the first time.

Kyle juvenile detention corps have money to pay organizations for doing this work.

And Cleveland peacemakers have been finally selected as one of those organizations to be paid to mentor young people to slow down the chances of recidivism and violations.

And I will tell you that sometimes working on a side of community and working with probation officers, they can it can be like this because our goal is to never send young people back to jail.

And so we use every single option.

We exhaust all of our options.

We relentlessly engage to make sure that they stay on this side of the wall and never have to go back over there.

So we're trying to do our part along with other organizations.

This is a sex now question.

As a member of the Cleveland City Council, what do you need from us to help with gun violence prevention, given that we have allocated millions of dollars locally for this work, but the violence continues to increase, what can we do next?

Thank you, Councilman Richard Starr, for your question.

Say you got to take that to me.

Okay.

So I think the part and I.

Am grateful for the leadership of Tucson your prior Jones White Cleveland thrive and really support in the allocation of the neighborhood safety fund that $10 million.

What I would say is that that is a great start.

But when you have $10 million to live over the course of a certain time, I think we had 150 people apply for the how many?

So it was a $13 million request for organization and who believe that they could in fact reduce community violence.

But there was a $1 million allocation.

So when I talked about the competitive nature is that everybody is fighting for a piece of this million dollars and 29 organizations will fund it.

So if you have if you see that you don't have a problem, people showing up and wanting to do the work.

The problem is that the investment is not great enough.

My answer to you is if you know that you got $13 million in requests where people all over the city to be able to do the work, what would it look like to have to fund that request?

$1 million a year will not be enough to meet the need of the growing numbers of homicides and nonfatal shootings in our city.

And it doesn't just look like organizations like me.

It looks like coaches and basketball players and and teachers and mothers and fathers and council tables and boys and girls.

It takes all of us.

All goes back to the ecosystem.

What I would need from you like stand up and say, this is not just a police problem.

This is a problem that community can and will tackle if invested and well resourced.

So I'm going now.

Thank you to my you, sir, for joining us today at the City Club.

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You can learn more about how to become a guardian of free speech at City Club dot org.

Today's forum is a part of the City Club's Local Heroes Hero series and with support from citizens as well as our Criminal Justice series in partnership with the Star and Shop Fowler Family Foundation, we would like to extend gratitude to each of these organizations for their support.

We would also like to welcome our students for joining us from Shaker Heights High School, as well as students from Look Up to Cleveland, as well as guests at the tables hosted by the Sharon Chuck Fowler Family Foundation citizen speak and legacy empowered.

We are off next Friday, July 5th for the holiday break, but we will be back on Wednesday, July 10th, to kick off our free outdoor summer series with Rosemary Musri, who will be joining us under the chandelier right across the street to talk about her new role, Envision as the first executive director of the Cleveland Public Market Corporation and the new nonprofit arm of the West Side Market Idea Streams.

Mike MacIntyre will moderate the conversation.

Then on Friday, July 12th, Michael Jeans with growth ops would share his vision for a greener and more inclusive future.

After receiving a $156 million grant to ensure access to solar power for low income communities across the Midwest.

You can learn more about each of these forums and others at City Club dot org.

And that brings us to the end of today's forum.

Thank you.

Once again to my Isha Watkins and our members and friends of the City Club.

I'm Ariana Smith and this forum is now adjourned.

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