After seeing three gun-related deaths in Muncie over the past two months, some community members have had enough.
Marwin Strong, a longtime resident of Muncie, started the Enough is Enough movement in 2007 after a stray bullet killed his friend. The group aims “to engage in the community and secure neighborhoods from gun violence and drugs,” he says.
They aren’t trying to be the police, Strong said. They just want to let people know there’s a better way to live. The group’s leaders emphasize the importance of walking the streets and building relationships with community members.
Many involved have a past of drug addiction or have spent years in prison. Others have lost family members to drugs and violence. But they found people who helped them out of those places, and now they want to give back.
Toddrick Gordon, a pastor at Urban Light Community Church, believes people who have been in violent situations will better connect with those in trouble now.
Gordon says even as a community outreach pastor, he hasn’t been out in the community like he should be. He thinks too many churches have an attitude of making the people come to them.
Muncie resident Brandy Lee says the people in her neighborhood won’t listen to officials.
“It’s got to be people who live there and show continuously that they care,” she said. “It’s going to take passion.”
Lee’s oldest son has been in prison for four and a half years. She joined the Enough is Enough movement because she wants him to find a changed city when he gets out.
“I want him to see that the kids he ran around with have changed their lives, and it’s different,” she said. “He doesn’t have to be that way.”
Muncie resident Darrell Balfour said it can be easy to ignore the violence and do his own thing.
“But I’ve been living in the community all my life,” he said. “So I’m just going to do my part because at the end of the day, I don't want to be one of those sitting around talking about it. I want to try to be about it.”
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