DES MOINES, Iowa — Three nonprofit groups call on different corners of the community to address the growing violence in Des Moines.
FOCUSS, Hip-Hope and Urban Dreams held a press conference today asking law enforcement, legislators and regular citizens to come together to combat the issue.
Today, the mothers of two victims from last week's Ingersoll shooting came forward to share their stories with the community hoping it will ignite change.
Calvetta Berry's daughter still has a bullet in her stomach after falling victim to the recent shooting on 28th Street and Ingersoll Avenue.
"She's having a lot of trauma," Berry said. "I am also having a lot of trauma because there's been shootings ever since and even before there's been shootings. Every time I get the phone call I'm like what now."
Stephanie Smith's 31-year-old son was also a victim in the Ingersoll shooting.
She shared that her son was simply ordering food when he was shot. Smith appreciates law enforcement for responding that night, but she wishes her son was treated differently.
"I am a little upset with them, just a little bit because they treated my son like he's a part of the problem," Smith said. "He's the victim and we just can't assume that just because you're African American that it's drug-related, that it's gang-related."
FOCUSS founder Darnell Lotman and his team also responded to that shooting to support the victim's families. Unfortunately, it wasn't the only violent crime that night.
"While we are at the hospital with the families, there's another shooting at the same time at Oakridge that we have to leave the hospital and run to," Darnell Lotman told Local 5.
Wayne Ward Ford is the founder of Urban Dreams. Growing up in Washington D.C.'s inner city he's seen and experienced his share of violence and is shocked to see what's happening in Central Iowa.
After calling the state home for several years now, he insists more help is needed for local nonprofits helping fight the issues causing this.
"I'm scared to drive down Ingersoll. I live in that neighborhood, that shooting happened in the daytime," Ford said. "So what I'm here to say is I'm your history, I am your Ides of March. I have worked with and worked for these organizations, and do they have the support they need to have, no."
The press conference's mission was to call on all Iowans to be a part of the prevention, not just the intervention, of violence in our cities.
"Please remember, that this is bigger than any individual, group or organization we need to put our pride to the side and our community to the forefront," Lotman told Local 5.