MANSFIELD, Ohio — An African proverb is attributed with the saying that “It takes a village to raise a child.” Locally, it might be said it takes a community to heal a city.
The Mend Mansfield Coalition is working on both: drawing the community together and making a difference to end violence and generally make a positive impact on Mansfield and Richland County.
The group continued to discuss progress on a number of activities at Tuesday’s monthly meeting including the “2,000 Shoes in 2 Months campaign,” the promotion of the theme “Hope #MendMansfield,” Safe Night Friday Nights and August’s “Each One Reach One” rally. Members also received invitations to “Taking Back Our Communities” from Ohio Attorney Mike DeWine’s office.
“We really thank every last one of you for all you do and all you have done, because the fact of the matter is we cannot make change here in the community without your participation and your help,” Rev. Derek Williams said.
The meeting was attended by pastors, and representatives of Victims Services for the Richland County prosecutor’s office, Richland County United Way, Domestic Relations Court, Catalyst Life Services, the Ohio attorney general’s office, the Nation of Islam, Mental Health and Recovery Services, NAMI, and the media.
“So on behalf of Mend Mansfield we really want to appreciate and thank every last one of you for all of the time and commitment you’ve made toward the cause of positive change in Richland County and the area,” said Williams.
Volunteering at Safe Night Friday Nights
Williams recognized one volunteer in particular: Libby Blakely of the Richland County Domestic Relations Court. He thanked her for helping at the Safe Night Friday Night events at Mansfield Parks.
“I’m actually the first-aid lady at Safe Night Friday Nights. It’s been a wonderful experience,” Blakely said. “It’s such a wide range of individuals from our community and everyone is getting together, having nice conversation, dancing, eating—it has just been a positive, wonderful experience. And you can just feel the love of the people who have attended and folks who have the same goals and desires for our community.”
2,000 Shoes in 2 Months
Angel Ross-Taylor said currently approximately 200 pairs of shoes have been collected for the shoe drive. Many of them were contributed by several organizations including the Mansfield Police Department, General Motors Professional Managers network in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, Nike, and Pam Siegenthaler recently donated 15 pairs.
Ross-Taylor encouraged business owners and agencies to encourage their organizations to donate. Donations can be made at Richland County library branches and the Richland Mall. For more information, see the Mend Mansfield Facebook page.
Each One Reach One Rally
The Each One Reach One rally will be held on Aug. 15 with assembly at 11 p.m. and kickoff at noon at the Renaissance Theatre. A number of activities are planned for the rally at Mansfield’s central park.
More information regarding the rally and participation can be obtained at the Mend Mansfield Facebook page. Volunteers are needed.
13er and Taking Back Our Communities
Community members are actively looking for ways to heighten awareness of the Mend Mansfield goals and toward that end Aubrie Hall, director of Victim Services for the prosecutor’s office, encouraged participation in the Spherion 13er in September.
“You spoke on drugs and trying to get out the awareness that there’s too many drugs in this community and we really need to promote that we’re not going to stand for it anymore and we want to get those who are addicted some help, and get families back on track,” Hall said.
She encouraged participation in the event. The Spherion 13er is an effort to draw attention to drug prevention and treatment.
Tammy Puff of the Ohio attorney general’s office, provided invitations to “Taking Back Our Communities” on Aug. 20.
The conference will confront the opiate crisis in Ohio. The conference will be held at the Wooster Church of the Nazarene in Wooster. The church’s pastor said the conference is intended to help people recognize the signs to stop addiction when it first starts and Puff noted that this is the closest location to Richland County at which the conference will be held. Registration is required; details can be found at www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov/OpiateCrisis.
T-shirts and selfies
The Mend Mansfield Coalition is also selling “Hope #MendMansfield” T-shirts and Williams encouraged businesses and organizations to purchase T-shirts to wear and pose with for selfie photos to post on Mend Mansfield’s Facebook page. Williams said the T-shirts will help spread the message of hope.
“I believe we can make a better impact when it comes to drugs, alcohol and violence; and it takes all of us to work together. I thank all of you for taking the time to fight violence here in Mansfield,” Williams said.
