Chief Schubert, police shooting victim co-found violence reduction foundation
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Pittsburgh's police chief and a man left paralyzed after he was shot during a traffic stop in 2012 co-founded a foundation that aims to reduce gun violence and heal trauma.
The Hear Foundation was announced Wednesday, born from an unlikely friendship between retiring chief Scott Schubert and Leon Ford, who said he was shot five times by a Pittsburgh police officer ten years ago.
"I had so much anger, so much frustration, so much hatred in my heart for police officers and people who were in the comments saying racist things. I knew in my heart that our city was better than that," Ford said.
Ford said he remembers going on a rant on Twitter, calling Schubert "racist." A friend who asked Ford if he'd ever met Schubert set up a meeting between the two.
Schubert said he remembered Ford's posts and thought the same thing: "he doesn't even know me."
"He was a name to me," Schubert said. "And to finally get an opportunity to meet, I think we were both suspect, like, 'What's the agenda on either side?' We tried to look through the lens of other people, and try to at least say you understand. We don't always agree but I think that's where our country is failing. People don't want to sit down and talk and get to that common ground so we can build upon that and make our communities safer and better."
Ford said he was able to heal through therapy and wants the foundation to help others too.
"The Hear Foundation will help the city as a whole acknowledge their pain, work through their trauma and move forward," Ford said.
The foundation's leaders said it's the first nonprofit in Pittsburgh exclusively dedicated to initiatives that address gun violence reduction, trauma and workforce while building relationships between police and the community.
Mayor Ed Gainey stressed that we can't just put the blame of the recent spike in violence on our youth.
"Our youth did not create this culture of violence. They inherited what we created the generation before," said Gainey.
It's another reason local leaders are stressing collaboration, why they're teaming up with a diverse group of board members and getting the support they need from local and national organizations.
The Hear Foundation already has three programs planned for the summer with support from a $75,000 grant from Heal America. The programs will bring youth together, allow them to collaborate with police officers and provide workshops that focus on the impacts of trauma.
"We both love Pittsburgh," Schubert said. "We both want to help, and we know there's a lot of other people out there that want to help and they're trying to do things but they don't have the resources or they don't have the funding or the coordination to get it done."
