JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Gang activity and drug-related violence are two of the biggest issues plaguing the Grand Park community of Northwest Jacksonville.
But Wednesday night, people who love the neighborhood came together at the Johnnie Walker Community Center to try to change that.
There is a lot to overcome in the neighborhood. Residents are still mourning the loss of a 14-year-old boy shot and killed at the community center in July. A memorial to James Thomas still sits in the parking where he was killed.
Wednesday, though, residents were looking forward to a better life for generations to come.
The gathering was largely made up of people who grew up in Grand Park and still have family there, including Bernadette Fields, the founder of Operation Saving Our Children.
Fields walked the streets of her old neighborhood with News4Jax to talk about why change must start with the children.
"These kids are seeing people being shot in the head," Fields said. "They're seeing dead bodies laying on the street, and they are thinking that is OK, because it's becoming so frequent here in Grand Park."
For many of the people at the vigil, the warm memories of their childhood are overshadowed by violence that has become a way of life.
"It's just really devastating," Fields said. "It's devastating to see, you know, young men, young children watch something so traumatic and not even flinch because they've become accustomed to it at this point."
In November, a 22-year-old man was gunned down in a drive-by on Division Street. Neighbors said at the time that Tommy Spells was just an innocent bystander.
And earlier this month, 16-year-old Devron Crowden was shot dead in the street in a hail of bullets. His mother had just left him at the school bus stop.
The once quiet family neighborhood has earned a reputation that will be hard to change. But Fields said it will never change unless the community works together to help the kids growing up here now.
Fields, a Duval County guidance counselor, said she has the passion to help change the community.
She's hoping Wednesday's gathering is just the start of what Operation Saving Our Children Can do. The organization has filed for charity tax status so it can apply for grants, and Fields said they are going to try to do events like Wednesday's vigil in every high-violence neighborhood in Jacksonville.