Volunteers with Rise Up Rochester respond to violence through community reach out

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — After a weekend of shootings and homicides, members of Rise Up Rochester got together on Wednesday and went door to door, trying to keep kids off the streets.

Rise Up Rochester organizer Wanda Ridgeway said stopping the violence in the city is personal.

“My nephew was killed in 2006 over on Magnolia Street, and it just sparked something in me,” Ridgeway said.

That’s among reasons why Ridgeway and more than a dozen others got together at the Willie Lightfoot Recreation Center on Jefferson Avenue and Flint Street to do their part to end the violence.

“We just want to pass out resources and just check on them. We just want to check on the community and we want to check on our young people to say ‘hey, what can we do for you?’ To find out what their needs are,” Ridgeway said.

According to the organizers, stopping the problem may begin with police, but it ends with the community coming together.

That’s one reason why volunteers like Master Glover feel obligated to help.

“It’s becoming like normal. It’s like becoming a trend that’s something happening, like, everyday and there’s people out here, don’t want to see violence. I was shot eight times last year,” Glover said.

That’s why volunteers spent the afternoon passing out fliers to people on the streets, including numbers for organizations like 585 SNUG, Pathways to Peace, and Roc the Peace that are there for anyone in crisis 24/7.

“Look at me. I’m still walking. I’m out here. I’m trying to spread the information. There’s always hope; you just have to look for it. We out here. We walk every Thursday to spread the information to people so they know the resources there is,” Glover said.

For more information about Rise Up Rochester and how you can get involved, call (585) 454-3060.