GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Religious leaders in Grand Rapids said the city has an on-going issue of violence and crime impacting kids and young adults. On Friday, they and the police chief unveiled a new plan to combat it.
The proposal included three points of action:
- Community prayer and outreach by partnering churches
- Strategic partnership between the police department and faith leaders
- Youth empowerment and education
Pastor Darryl Gaddy Sr. of Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church said he and other neighborhood leaders see the need for more support for families.
"We all feel it, the trauma that lingers when children hear and are near gunshots. We all feel it," said Gaddy. "The sad thing is that our kids begin to feel that violence is normal, it is not normal, and it is not acceptable, and it will not be our future."
"We all feel it," says Grand Rapids pastor on violence in city
Citing Tuesday's shooting that left a mother and her two sons dead, Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom said it cannot just be his department pushing back on crime in the community.
"We need to co produce safety in our community," said Winstrom. "And I'm so proud of the leaders in this city who are willing to stand up and also take responsibility and say, this is on all of us when you're talking about intimate partner violence, when you're talking about youth violence among youth, both as victims and defenders."
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Part of the plan called for an expansion of the Grand Rapids Alternative Correctional Experience (GRACE) program, which started in 2023 as an education program for teens in the criminal justice system with an aim to train kids in fields like graphic arts, entrepreneurship, and farm animals for rehabilitation. Participants were also assigned a mentor during the 16-week program.
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Now GRACE would partner with other organizations that work with youth throughout the city, including launching a an after-school mentoring program and holding workshops on conflict-resolution.
"Let's make some things happen. We can do this. I believe that it's accomplished already," said Gaddy. "We just got to put our hands and our hearts to work, and so as we declare this today as a day of peace and prosperity over this city, we're going to push in together."
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Other points of the plan included creating a police-faith liaison committee to facilitate better communication between law enforcement and religious leaders. Organizers also said coffee with a cop forums would be held each quarter.
"In the book of Jeremiah, chapter 29 verse number seven, says this, we are to seek the peace of our city," said Pastor Paris McMurray from Renaissance Church of God in Christ. "God gives a charge, God gives an instruction. God gives a command for us to seek the peace of our city."
Several churches across various denominations were planning weekly prayer meetings across different locations in the city. The faith leaders who spoke during Friday's press conference emphasized that prayer does matter.
"Prayer is not passive," said Gaddy. "Prayer is a strategy that aligns hearts and stabilizes families and calls people back to what matters, and that's what we're here to do. Prayer must be paired with outreach."
