RICHMOND, Va. -- A community event to help teenagers who are impacted by gun violence is being put on by four Richmond community groups.
The event comes in light of an uptick in gun violence involving teenagers, the latest shooting leaving a 14-year-old hospitalized after he was shot while riding a bike in Southside Richmond.
When Clovia Lawrence steps away from the Radio One microphone, she's a mother, a friend, a community activist and the driving force behind the nonprofit Project Give Back To Community.
These days, her heart is never too far from the tragic headlines of gun violence devastating families across the area.
"From a mother, it devastates me. You never become desensitized to issues and violence in the community," Lawrence said.
Lawrence knows the constant violence has left many teens in a dark place. She believes in trauma-informed care, which is incorporated in her Camps Over Crossfire teen forum this weekend.
The forum is a safe space for young people impacted by violence to talk about the heavy load they are carrying.
"We have to give our teens some of the things they want and that's why Camps Over Crossfire is so important. Because we gave them an opportunity to speak about some of the things that they want and this includes trauma too, believe it or not," Lawrence said.
The teen forum will also include job opportunities, educational resources and mental wellness support. She wants the community to step in and help this way as mental health experts are needed to be on hand to help teens and families in need.
"We want them to have an open space to talk about whatever it is that's troubling them and a lot of times, from a parent to a parent, we don't know everything that a child is going through and our kids aren't going through the same things we went through in the past. So the only thing we can do is listen and love," Lawrence said.
The Camps Over Crossfire teen forum will be held on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Boys and Girls Club on Creighton Road in Richmond.
The event is open to young people from the Richmond area and surrounding localities.
The event is free and you can register or offer to provide mental health wellness resources by clicking here.
