Escalating Violence Prompts Emergency Meeting In Homewood
HOMEWOOD (KDKA)- Community leaders called an emergency meeting on the escalating violence in Homewood.
Last night, the Community Empowerment Association held an emergency town hall meeting.
Just last week, a woman and two children were shot while attending a vigil in Homewood. It was the latest shooting in the community. The woman, a 3-year-old and a 12-year-old all survived the shooting.
"We feel it's necessary to look at this as a national public health emergency," said Rashad Byrdsong, the President and CEO of the Community Empowerment Association. "We got to intervene, we're calling on public officials and people in academia to come together and try to bring some relief to this community."
Byrdsong says they are working on building a neighborhood council to help come up with a strategy and a plan to curb violence and rebuild the neighborhood.
The council would also work on programs to help young men with mentors and job training.
The group will meet again in two weeks to talk about the structure of the neighborhood council.
Byrdsong says residents in Homewood need to see something positive soon.
"A lot of people have hopelessness and apathy. People need to see action, they need to see something tangible," Byrdsong said.
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