SOUTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Several metro Atlanta groups met Sunday in a grassroots effort to combat the violence that has consumed the city’s streets.
The group went door to door to make sure young men know the resources available to keep them out of trouble.
Channel 2′s Larry Spruill was with them as they went to several South Fulton neighborhoods talking to those who wanted to go down a different road.
Multiple organizations like Let Us Make Man, Black Man Lab, I’m a Father First, Next Level Boys Academy, UPCEN and Young YMCA gathered to address the violence that has been taking over metro Atlanta.
They kicked things off in the parking lot of the Walmart on Old National Highway in College Park.
“It’s a sign of hope. When people see, Black men come together and move together in unison for something good, it gives them hope. It gives them encouragement. It lets them see that everything they see on TV, on social media, it’s not all true,” said Mawuli Davis with Black Man Lab.
Davis said their goal is to reach those who want to change.
“We just want to connect with parents who are looking for resources. We want to connect to young men who are looking for an alternative to what they’re doing,” Davis said.
Sunday’s meeting comes on the heels of yet another violent weekend throughout the metro.
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Early on Sunday morning, an 11-year-old boy was shot at the Golden Glide skating park on Wesley Chapel Road around 1 a.m.
That boy remains in critical condition.
Davis said they’re determined to not just talk about the violence but offer solutions and resources to end it.
“We suffer for lack of resources and knowledge. So we want to make sure that these young people know they have options,” Davis said.
Options that don’t have to end with guns or jail time.
Anthony Adams, the youth pastor at World Changers Church International, says often, such meetings are just one-off.
But not this meeting and not these men. They’re in it for the long haul.
“With everyone coming together, what the community has been missing is consistency. All of these individual organizations have been consistent. Now that we’re knocking on doors, we can now direct them to places that can give them consistency, accountability and discipleship,” Adams said.
The organizations say they will follow up with the parents and young men they met with on Sunday. They said Sunday’s meeting will not be the last.
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