Dear Neighbor,
April 22- 27 is National Youth Violence Prevention Week to encourage youth and teens to build safer communities. To raise awareness, the Marion County Youth Violence Prevention Coalition is partnering with several other organizations to host a Peace Walk. The Coalition was founded in 2015 and represents close to 60 organizations. Their mission is to “convene community stakeholders, conduct research, provide leadership, and empower people to create opportunities that build more peaceful homes, schools, neighborhoods, and workplaces.”
The Peace Walk is on April 27 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Landmark for Peace Memorial (601 East 17th Street). Youth from the Indy area will speak at the event and it will feature resource tables hosted by community partners, public agencies and more. Organizations interested in tabling at the Peace Walk can register here. The Marion County Youth Violence Prevention Coalition will be distributing free gun lock boxes to Indianapolis firearm owners. After meeting at the Landmark for Peace memorial, we will head north on N. Broadway St. turn right onto E 19th St, turn right onto Dr Andrew J Brown Ave, and head west on E 17th St back toward the Landmark for Peace Memorial.
I’m proud of the youth in our community for hosting this event and standing up to make a change. Recently, the Kennedy King Memorial Initiative hosted it’s annual event to commemorate the speech Robert F. Kennedy gave after the tragic assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King. The speech spreads the message of peace, solidarity in grief, love for our neighbors and the role each of us play in inspiring change. This Peace Walk embodies these values and is the type of civic service Dr. King himself held dear.
To learn more about the Marion County Youth Violence Prevention Coalition, please visit www.saferindy.com. I hope to see you there as we walk to promote peace in Indianapolis.
In service,
State Rep. Gregory W. Porter