Attendees say they feel hopeful after community meeting focused on reducing violence in Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Some Louisville community members said they have a new sense of hope after meeting with others this week to focus on reducing the level of violence in the city.

Dozens were in attendance at the Ali Center for the Tuesday night meeting. It was called the "Violence Reduction Action Summit." This meeting is expected to the first of several community discussions hosted by Mayor Craig Greenberg's office.

Navada and Krista Gwynn were two of the people who were part of the discussion.

"This is just what the city's been waiting on. This is what we've been needing," Navada Gwynn told WDRB News on Wednesday.

The Gwynns' 19-year-old son, Christian, was shot and killed in 2019. Less than two years later, their daughter, Victoria, survived a shooting at Ballard Park, but her leg was badly injured.

"It definitely needs to start with a conversation," said Krista Gwynn. "You don't know what we need unless we have that conversation and tell you what's going on in our community. So we have to have that conversation. You have to know what our problem is and our issue is in our neighborhood that you can address. You don't know what's going on unless we tell you."

The Gwynns said this meeting on Tuesday was about the common goal to save children.

"We take this wholeheartedly knowing these kids need a voice. And we are more than willing to help speak for our children," Krista Gwynn said.

This year, Louisville has lost more than 20 people to homicides.

One homicide in mid-January claimed the life of a 14-year-old boy who was shot and killed not far from a church in Louisville's Wyandotte neighborhood where Pastor Corey Nelson has spent years working to provide ministry to children.

Nelson was at the community meeting Tuesday night. He called to RSVP weeks ago, as soon as the information was announced.

"I had mixed emotions going in," Nelson said. "I had kind of come to the point that it was too late for us."

But he said after seeing so many others from all across the community wanting to make a difference, he had a renewed since of hope. He said that hope came from "the hearts of the people there representing the community."

"There's a lot of people that are really passionate, that are really fed up with the things going on in this city, that really want to come together to work to try to address these issues," he said.

Nelson said he believed a solution will come from those in the community, but the violence must be addressed sooner rather than later.

"This isn't something that we can waste a lot of time talking about," he said. "People are dying. Families are being torn apart. Our city is being torn apart. We can't wait."

He added, "We need the support of our city government, we need to support of LMPD. It's dangerous out here, it really is. But when you get the community all together and passionate about the things that were brought forth last night and people are hurting and they're tired of it -- that's where the solution's going to come from, is the people in the streets, the people that are doing the trench work, hopefully with the support of our city."

The Gwynns said they would like to see more youth in attendance at future meetings to join in on the conversation.

"We are willing to help them in any situation that they're having. If it's at home or if it's at school or just the peer pressure -- that we're here to help you and it doesn't have to turn into violence," said Krista Gwynn.

Louisville city leaders said other conversations like this are in the final planning stages. Dates, times, and topics have not been announced.

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