TOLEDO, Ohio — The Coalition for Peaceful Toledo Neighborhoods, founded by Epworth United Methodist Church's Reverend Dr. Stephen Swisher and former Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner, held its first meeting in the church's gymnasium Thursday.
The room filled up quickly with those seeking solutions for the common goal of ending gun violence.
The attendance gave community members like Sharon Jeffries hope.
"Everybody, I think we can all build this. This was exciting to me today, really exciting," Jeffries said.
There were several community leaders, activists and Toledo police officers that spoke at the event. The floor was open to share ideas and learn more about the issue of gun violence in the city.
Maurice Morris, a former TPD officer of 13 years, created the MDM Empowerment Group, an organization that connects with youth and teaches them about navigating the world amid gun violence. His most recent ongoing program, Get Home Safe, talks to young men and women about how they should interact with police.
Morris spoke about his program and the importance of getting out into less desirable neighborhoods to enact change. He noted certain people were not in the audience today.
"The people that we need to get to are the ones that are doing the violence, the shooting. So how do we get them to the table?" Morris said.
One of the biggest suggestions at the meeting was to reinstate community block watches.
"We used to have 266 (block watch programs) in Toledo. Now we have 6. So, we need to make that a priority again," Swisher said.
Other suggestions included mentoring youth and introducing community members to police patrolling the area. Many revolved around the inclusivity of community and law enforcement.
Law enforcement present at the meeting was also asked how they are working to curb gun violence.
Jeffries, a 30-year veteran of TPD, noticed few young people at the meeting. She said with age comes wisdom, and saw the comparatively low turnout for young people as an opportunity, not a disappointment.
"These kind of meetings give energy to the old stuff that we used to do and maybe we can try it again," Jeffries said.
Morris suggested taking the conversations to those not present at the table, instead of expecting them to show up.
"We have to start somewhere to get somewhere," Morris said. "But again, we're at the table talking about a segment in society, in this community. But they're not at the table, so what I'm trying to do is go to them."
There will be other community forums from the Coalition for Peaceful Toledo Neighborhoods. Announcements about those meetings will come at a later date.