KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The first of the two-day Gun Violence Youth Prevention Summit happened Thursday evening in Kalamazoo.
The summit aims to attract youth who want to work together to organize, collaborate and promote solutions for gun violence in the community.
"So, we started off with a brief introduction, gave some shoutouts to our supporters and then we did survivors stories, held a moment of silence. And then additionally, gave space to shout out names for those who weren't comfortable talking about survivor stories," KYD Network Youth Leadership Coordinator Genesis Griffin explained. "After that, we split into small group workshops, which were identified by the audience. They were home, school, community and social media as avenues of gun violence that we want to work on...building prevention strategies for."
Participating organizations include Forever 22 Naya J. Reynolds Foundation, Moms Demand Action, Arcus Center for Social Justice, Great Lakes PeaceJam and Kalamazoo Youth Development Network.
"Just trying to figure out how to let youth have their say and have control of what they want to do," Maggie Wardle's father, Rick Omilian said. "We all know that we've been telling them people what they should do. You heard stories today, heart-wrenching stories, about personal connections to gun violence within their families and neighborhoods. This seemed like the best way to give their voice strength."
Wardle's ex-boyfriend killed her on October 17, 1999, according the Remembering Maggie website.
"This means everything to me. Very important to see that you actually want to get involved to actually want to come up with solutions because not all of our youth are out here killing...you actually want to see something done about the gun violence, you are that fed up," Maya Davis said.
Davis' daughter, Naya J. Reynolds, was shot and killed while driving on I-94 in August of 2022. Naya's family has since created the Forever 22 Naya J. Reynolds Memorial Scholarship in her honor.
READ MORE: Family of Naya Reynolds continues legacy through scholarship
The second day of this two-day summit is scheduled for Thursday, February 22 from 6- 8 p.m.
That will also take place at Arcus Center for Social Justice in Kalamazoo.
Additionally, organizers plan to host a third summit on March 14 to present these ideas to community leaders.
