TOLEDO, Ohio — It was three years ago that the city of Toledo saw a record number of 70 homicides in 2021. The numbers have decreased since then, but the pain of losing people to violence hasn't gone away
"Understanding the depth of the challenge and understanding how many people have been exposed to community violence, and the impact it has on them and the impact that it has on youth as they walk to and from school," said Malcolm Cunningham, the director of the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, during WTOL 11's Leading Edge.
Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz tabbed Cunningham to lead the charge against gun violence in May of 2023, putting him in charge of MONSE.
The program is designed to help curb violence in neighborhoods. It has not only targeted neighborhoods with a history of violence but also been committed to schools.
"We take a public health approach to gun violence," said Josh Davies, the commissioner of the school branch of "Save Our Community", a community violence intervention and prevention program to reduce gun violence. "Our staff, our public health workers, they work with the students to try and develop skills and resiliency."
For the last year, Save our Community has been imbedded in schools in Toledo Public Schools — Waite, Scott and Woodward high schools —, as well as the Maritime Academy.
While the lessons and message isn't built into the curriculum, Cunningham says the initiative is about building relationships and changing what plagued the past.
"The reality is the root causes are not the gangs," he said. "The root causes are the things that create the need for them to feel safe and protected among one another."
Another hurdle that both Cunningham and Davies talked about was the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education and how it's still affecting mental health.
"It's not gone away,' said Davies. "I think that schools have responded as best they can."
The city of Toledo last week announced the "Peace in Motion" plan with the goal of reducing gun violence over the next five years by building community trust, improving support for victims and survivors and increasing protection.
"The more we can support them, the more we can to support the folks already out there doing the work, the more we believe we will see a safe and peaceful city," Cunningham said.