“It’s a bunch of kids out here and just the other day, there was a shooting. With so many kids around, it’s like nobody knows how to fight anymore. People will be shooting with the kids around. It was night time when my sister-in-law pulled up with my daughter and I heard ten shots from about two houses down. It was too close.

We need better communication. It feels like everybody is letting everything fall apart. It’s way different from when I was little. Plus, they’re tearing down our houses over here. Instead of fixing them up, they’re tearing them down. They just tore down three houses and there’s houses on Bank St. that’s boarded up. They’re just taking homes away and nobody’s going to stop and say anything about it. It just feels like nobody cares anymore.

We also need people to come together. We can’t even have nothing over here, no more. There used to be little block parties and people would have their families over here. They used to have something at Jewel Park but they don’t do that anymore. People are afraid to go to Shawnee Park after all the shootings. My dad was one of the victims that got shot on Thanksgiving. My dad hasn’t been to Shawnee Park since. He won’t even go near the park. He’s moving out of the West End once he gets married. It’s just different from when I was younger but people don’t want it to be that way. Once it gets dark, I’m not outside.” - Renee, Shawnee