PHILADELPHIA - Organizers are taking to the streets in Philadelphia's most troubled neighborhoods to help bring an end to the spread of gun violence that continues to impact communities.
Damarr Dabney leads a team of ‘violence interrupters’ currently whose goal is stem arguments and retaliations before the combatants resort to violence. "We’re not afraid of these kids, these are our kids, they need to feel accepted," Dabney said. "Our goal is to squash the beef or retaliation."Ceasefire Philadelphia is following the Cure Violence model, which looks at violence as a disease.
Organizers strive to work one-on-one with those causing the spread of violence. MORE LOCAL HEADLINES"We try to interrupt the spread by identifying those individuals who are causing the spread of violence, work with them one-on-one," Maria said.
Marla Davis-Bellamy, Director of Philadelphia's Ceasefire Program, explained that mentors make hour visits and call multiple times per week to help young people turn away from street violence. "Basically inoculate them with some kind of cure, so they will begin to see life a little bit differently and respond differently," Davis-Bellamy said.