Wednesday was a very sad day for this community. The violence on the west side seems to be increasing all of the time.
The numbers of shootings in the Chicago over the weekend reached 33.
On Wednesday 2 young men were shot and killed and 3 others were injured. This happened at 10:30 in the morning at Horan Park, a couple of blocks from Marillac. I know that many of our staff and clients knew the young men that were shot. I do not understand the circumstances of the shootings but I know that many of those who knew them are overwhelmed by this senseless loss of young lives. It is very difficult to comprehend why this continues to happen in this community every day. All of us at Marillac St. Vincent work so hard to offer quality services to the people that we serve and it becomes frustrating when these horrible things happen in our community, caused by just a handful of people, over which we do not have any control.
All of this violence reinforces that it is so important for people to feel that they have a purpose in their lives and that they have choices they can make that can improve their lives and the lives of their family.
This violence causes so much stress for staff, our families and the people who live in the community. We continue to be proactive in making the community safer. The peace rally and march that we hosted several weeks ago with over 100 teens demonstrated that our young people and people on the West Side also want to work with us to make things better.
We have begun to develop relationships between our young people and the police. Our day to day programs keep children and teens engaged in positive activities. If anyone has any ideas or thoughts on how Marillac St. Vincent Family Services can lead this community and advocate against the violence that is occurring please share your thoughts and ideas with me, directly.
Maureen Hallagan
Chief Programs Officer
Marillac St. Vincent Family Services
Maureen.Hallagan@marillacstvincent.org
(T) 773.584.3232
(F) 773.722.1469
212 S. Francisco Avenue
Chicago, IL 60612