MANSFIELD, Ohio—The new Mend Mansfield Coalition was formed in response to events that occurred March 29 and 30, incidents that sent four individuals to the hospital for gunshot wounds. “Cooperation” was heard in the rallying cry to end gun violence when the first meeting was held on March 31.
Rev. Derek Williams said the meeting was “for all of us to come together to have a unified voice together, as Mansfield…not only on the north end but every end of Mansfield.”
Cooperation was also prevalent in a small group of the coalition that met Monday.
“What was it about this event that brought so many different people together? It wasn’t just NECIC or the north end or the ministerial alliance; for some reason everyone came in,” said Brad Peffley, an OhioHealth MedCentral vice president.
Many organizations were represented at last week’s meeting, which was led by Williams and Mansfield City Police Chief Ken Coontz. Then on Monday, the leadership at Richland Source met with several of the organizations’ representatives to learn what participation meant for them.
Attending were Don Bryant, councilman at-large for Mansfield; Brian Garverick, Mansfield City Schools superintendent; Brady Groves, Richland County Fooundation president; Peffley, Vice President Clinical Services at OhioHealth MedCentral Hospitals; Maura Teynor, director of donor services Richland County Foundation; Christiana Thompson, Communications and Media Relations Manager at OhioHealth; and Kizzy Williams, community organizer for the North End Community Improvement Collaborative (NECIC).
NECIC got involved, originally, because the fourth of the recent shootings , occurred in the north end.
“The work we do for the north end is ultimately the greater goal to improve the quality of life of all of Mansfield. Another reason why I was there is because gun violence is an issue here, and gun violence is not just designated to our youth. ..But Mansfield itself is a city that is very divided by sides, for him (the pastor last Tuesday) to have to address that the very first thing, we are very divided by sides, she said.
“I mean people in Mansfield give directions based on sides…I think for the community to want to show the residents to come together, we have to be together (as in the coalition). That’s why the rally is so important and why I’m glad there’s so many organizations on that coalition because that just equals power. It’s like the whole city of Mansfield is about to support the whole city of Mansfield. We’re leaving sides aside and coming together for one cause and one goal and change—immediate change.”
It’s important for Mansfield schools, too.
“This impacts our families and students directly,” said Mansfield City Schools Superintendent Brian Garverick, “We live in the city and the neighborhoods and this has an impact on their well-being—their emotional well-being.”
Garverick suggested improved or expanded city parks might offer an outlet for the city’s youth. “When I was a kid, we went and played in parks. I was in Prospect playing baseball and Maple Lake playing baseball. I think that’s overgrown now.”
He also suggested that a strong economic base would lead to less crime and violence.
Brady Groves said the Richland County Foundation found the coalition important for a couple of reasons.
“We have fundholders who have a real penchant for the north end. They do a lot of grant-making on the north end, not that this is a north end problem, but the rally is taking place there and they (fundholders) like to be kept aware of what’s going on if there’s opportunities to help. And the second is that I think it’s incumbent for the community foundation, that we know, that we understand, what’s going on in the community, both good and bad. What happened with the shooting isn’t an isolated incident. There’s a root cause somewhere, whether it’s lack of an opportunity for recreation or to blow off some steam or educational enhancements at the school, stated Groves.
“Those are all things that we invest in, and if there’s ways that we can improve or areas that we should be in and maybe we’re not aware of, it’s a good opportunity to find out what’s happening.”
After remarks about guns as a weapon of violence and whether the guns were the issue or people were, Bryant stated, “Guns don’t kill people; it’s people that kill people. They hurt people. So I think, in my time growing up here in Mansfield, and I’ll be 30 in a few weeks, I’ve never seen anything like this that happens in such a short time frame—so many shootings in a row. So I think there’s a bigger problem.”
Bryant added, “We have to engage our young people, engaging kids in activities that are meaningful to their future—something that they can look forward to. Right now, we have a lot of young people who are looking forward to stuff that is not good for them….”
“I think it’s critical that we’re having these dialogues, that we’re having this conversation right now. I think it’s very positive that we are talking about this in a positive manner,” he said.
Peffley said OhioHealth is concerned for all of the reasons mentioned. “I mean we have those people (victims) as patients and so we have to deal with it in our emergency room and we’re the only emergency room in the city, so we get everything. So when we have those kinds of incidents–that creates some real issues in the emergency room, he said.
“And just from a community perspective, we’re a member of the community, too. I think one of the things that impressed me about pastor Williams’ comment was it was not a north end problem—the shootings happened in different places. One of the shootings was right down the street from the hospital.”
He said he also appreciated that Rev. Williams, coming from Wisconsin, noted that the issue was not unique to Mansfield.
“That’s important. I appreciated that because sometimes people want to say, ‘Well, it’s worse here.’ And one of the problems we also have in Mansfield is we put ourselves down, as well. And so if just the north end, or just the south end, or just whatever end, tries to deal with it in their area, it’s like putting finger on the hole in the dyke. There’s holes popping out all over the dike, not just in the north end of the dyke,” he said.
The next Mend Mansfield Coalition meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 7 at 10 a.m. at Mount Calvary Baptist Church, 343 N. Main St.
It’s like the whole city of Mansfield is about to support the whole city of Mansfield. We’re leaving sides aside and coming together for one cause and one goal and change—immediate change,” said Kizzy Williams.
