1 year after Baltimore's mass shooting, community groups stick with Brooklyn Homes residents
BALTIMORE -- Organizations have rallied to support south Baltimore residents reeling from the 2023 mass shooting during the annual Brooklyn Day Block Party.
Nonprofits and other community groups say they are here to stay while helping residents process the trauma of that July 2, 2023, evening, and build back stronger.
Two people were killed -- Aaliyah Gonzalez and Kylis Fagbemi -- and 28 others were injured.
The United Way of Central Maryland, City of Refuge and Kingdom of Life Church say they have stood with this community long before and after the mass shooting that happened here a year ago.
These organizations want the Brooklyn Homes residents to know they are not forgotten.
"There's still people that live in Brooklyn Homes that wake up every day and when they walk out of their homes. They're still in fear," said Billy Humphrey, Executive Director of City of Refuge.
Humphrey, who founded City of Refuge nearly 10 years ago and has been working in the Brooklyn community for decades, told WJZ that systemic issues have plagued the area for years and it will take time to create lasting change.
"It's their journey out of crisis, is their journey out of poverty, is their journey in life, right? All we get to do is walk with and be a guide on that journey," Humphrey said.
In the wake of the Brooklyn Homes mass shooting, organizations rallied to help the victims, their families and the people who live there by working together to prevent this from ever happening again.
"What that that day did and after, it has helped us to coordinate ourselves to kind of move together," Bishop John Watts, from Kingdom of Life Church, told WJZ.
The United Way of Central Maryland has also played an integral role, connecting community organizations and instilling programs in schools and churches to reach more residents.
"A lot of our work is preventative in nature, but it's also designed to help the fabric of the local community," said Franklin Baker, the President and CEO of United Way of Central Maryland. "If we can just strengthen families, we can strengthen communities."
Organizations focused its efforts on reducing gun violence, providing fresh foods in what's now a food desert, and creating programs for teens.
"We have fewer people coming to City of Refuge to get quality food, which means that the numbers are getting better in terms of people securing jobs that are paying a living wage. But we can't stop there," Baker said.
"We are not a forgotten part of Baltimore City. We are here. We've always been here. We've had improved numbers around violence, improved numbers around shootings and homicides. We have more challenges, more issues to overcome," Humphrey added.
Moving forward, community leaders say it will take the entire city to boost this neighborhood forward.
"Bring awareness to gun violence, bring awareness to the traumas of families, bring awareness to some of the systemic issues that go on as relates to food and housing," Watts added. "This is not normal, and I think being a person of faith I believe that we can triumph from it."
These groups say these resources need to be sustained to boost neighbors out of poverty and help this community thrive moving forward.
Five suspects were charged in the shooting. Aaron Brown, 18, and, Tristan Brian Jackson, 18, along with three minors, were charged with attempted first and second-degree murder.
However, no one has been charged in the direct killings of Gonzalez and Fagbemi.