By Dylan Deprey
As Memorial Day weekend unofficially rang in the Summer, so did the heartbreaking headlines: “Killed in Cold blood,” “4 Dead, 15 Injured in 15 Separate shooting,” “A deadly problem.”
There were the press conferences with the crying mothers being comforted by friends and neighbors. There was the Mayor and Police Chief speaking outside City Hall about the senseless acts of violence. There was a memorial for those lost, and a convoluted combination of hope and fear for those that survived the tragic. The neighborhood stays in fear, and the police attempt to serve justice for another case.
Though another human life was drastically taken, not even 12 hours later the headlines changed, and the world continued to turn.
ShaLeatha Walls remembers a different Milwaukee. It was a Milwaukee where children and their peers did not have the life-shattering experience of losing a family member. It was a Milwaukee not plagued in a rain of gunfire and despair. She recalled a time when her brother was alive. A time where she was not helping to raise his three children along with her sister and mother.
“I’ve wiped tears from my nieces and nephews faces. I’ve heard them have conversations and go through angry spouts about why, ‘their dad isn’t here and someone took their dad.’ I see things going on like the father/ daughter dance, but my nieces don’t have that opportunity. My brother can’t attend my nephew’s basketball and soccer games.”
After the headlines, the mothers, the siblings, the children and the friends are all left to grieve. The community is then forced to piece its fragmented-self back together once again. Having witnessed Milwaukee’s need for a helping hand, Walls’ mission is to provide a professional help and aid those who have lost to gun violence long after the headlines.
Seeds of Hope Gun Violence Support will host its first ever monthly session on Saturday, June 3rd at the Capitol Library (3969 N. 74th St) from 1pm-3pm.
Walls said gun violence has become an epidemic, and the memorial Facebook posts and commemorative curbside processions have been a norm in the community.
“The thing is, this is long-term. My nephew was 18 months when my brother passed. Now, he is 9-years-old and we still have to deal with that. This is a pain that never goes away,” Walls said.
Having first graduated from Concordia with a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice, Walls said it wasn’t entirely what she wanted to do. She wanted to give back to the community that helped raise her.
So, she went into the childcare business for ten years.
“As time progressed, I saw a lot of behavioral issues in children because of parental/custody issues, and I found myself being a counselor and a mediator with no credentials,” Walls said.
She decided to go back to get her Master’s degree in grief counseling to help walk her friends, family and neighbors through the most difficult times in their lives.
“There are a lot of academic and behavioral issues because of this loss and void, and they don’t know how to deal with the anger, sadness and the multitude of emotions that come with this loss,” Walls said. “It’s frustrating for parents because they need someone to look to too.”
The first Seeds of Hope Support group session June 3rd will include counselors, psychologists, yoga instructors and even etiquette classes. She said it was a space for parents, guardians and children to properly grieve.
Ultimately, Walls hopes to break barriers by dispelling the myth about seeing a counselor in the Black Community.
“They have this stigma that, ‘we’ll take care of this at home our way, we’ll pray it away,’” Walls said. “It’s ok to talk to an outside third party and get some professional input on what you can do.”
For more information about Seeds of Hope Gun Violence Support Group call 414-699-5243 or email seedsofhopemilw@gmail.com
