MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - After a weekend that left a 14-year-old dead and a 17-year-old hospitalized from gunshot wounds, youth organization leaders in Memphis are responding with calls for urgency as spring break begins and summer approaches.
Lionel Hollins, former Memphis Grizzlies head coach and newly appointed board president of Heal the Hood Foundation, said the back-to-back shootings have sharpened the focus of those working with at-risk youth.
“I don’t know if it is a ‘do more.’ I think it is just more of an urgency. I grew up in this environment, I had friends that were killed,” Hollins said.
Hollins said access to options is central to the issue.
“If there are no options, there is no hope. And if there is no hope, then we just talked about the crime and all that goes along with that,” he said.
According to Memphis Police Department data, youth violence in Memphis has decreased. Still, as school breaks and warmer weather return, organizations are working to ensure youth have structured activities available to them.
LaDell Beamon, CEO of Heal the Hood Foundation, said the organization’s headquarters was filled with children the day before spring break. He said the group is continuing to fundraise toward the Hero Empowerment Center, described as a safe space for one of Memphis’ most vulnerable populations.
“We are in a very specific place where God is calling out people like Coach Lionel Hollins, who has been doing this and has a heart, and we are going to link up. It’s like putting a jet pack on someone who has been sitting on the ground trying to look up and fly,” Beamon said.
Hollins echoed the vision for the planned facility.
“The goal is to have a facility where people can come and have the opportunity to feel safe and take on experiences that they never would have had before,” he said.
Memphis police have no suspects in either of the weekend shootings. Anyone with information is asked to contact CrimeStoppers at 901-528-CASH.
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