THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 9, 1997 TAG: 9702090312
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: IDA KAY'S PORTSMOUTH
SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan
LENGTH: 59 lines
Unusual as it may sound, I'm promoting an event in Virginia Beach today sponsored by a Norfolk-based organization.
Sheila Joseph, the Portsmouth woman who always is involved with positive things, called it to my attention.
``The Healing Wall,'' a memorial to children who were victims of violence, will be unveiled and dedicated at Rosewood Memorial Park on Witchduck Road Sunday, Feb. 16.
The project is sponsored by Mothers Against Crime Inc., a Norfolk-based organization headed by Jacqueline McDonald, who lost two sons to violence in the 1980s.
The wall, she said, has been her dream since 1990. It came about finally with the help of the folks at Rosewood cemetery and Kellum Funeral Home.
``They have given us a beautiful monument,'' McDonald said. ``They have made it possible. This ensures that children murdered over the years always will be remembered.''
The names of victims up to 18 years of age will be placed on the memorial.
``But we are trying to sort out who will be eligible,'' McDonald said. ``There are a lot of victims.''
Joseph was anxious to get more about the wall in front of the people of Portsmouth, where many murder victims over the years have been 18 or younger.
``Many of these need this project to touch their lives,'' she said. ``We need them, and we want them to come and participate.''
Families of victims are asked to arrive no later than 3 p.m. at Rosewood for a special service. The public dedication program, beginning at 3:30 p.m., will feature a gospel concert and a candlelight ceremony.
``This is an opportunity for people to come together,'' Joseph said, adding that perhaps when they realize the magnitude of the problem, they will work together toward common goals.
The No. 1 goal, of course, should be to stop violence - especially when it involves innocent children. Joseph is right when she says one person or one organization can't do it all.
Projects like the wall are important because they remind us of the violence that will stop only if every citizen decides to do something about it.
Unfortunately, people tend to talk a lot when a child is killed, but they seldom follow up to try to prevent future deaths. People who are not touched directly tend not to feel responsible.
We all need reminders that it takes everybody to make an impact on the situation.
Portsmouth's community policing program is successful mainly because it draws most law-abiding citizens into the efforts to stop crime and to clean up neighborhoods. The police - as nice and as hard-working as they are - could not do alone what has been done. And they'll need even more help every year if the city is going to keep crime from increasing.
Projects like the wall are good emotionally for families who have lost a child. But the impact must go beyond the comfort they receive. They and all their neighbors and friends must be at the forefront of efforts to keep other children from being lost to violence.
It's not enough to mourn the loss of a child. We also must resolve to keep it from happening again.