HAMPTON, Va. — This week marks Hampton Youth Violence Prevention Week.
On Sunday, the City’s Office of Youth Opportunities held the first event, called “Reunion of Hope.”
Hampton
Hampton’s Office of Youth Opportunities hosts violence prevention week
Representatives with the office say they are hosting these events to address the disproportionate rates of gun violence happening in pockets of the community. They hope to lessen the rates of youth violence in the community through prevention, intervention and awareness.
“We have expanded our efforts to being more than just one day of conference style public safety initiatives, to more community involvement where we bring initiatives to the communities we look to serve," said Office of Youth Violence Executive Director Lateisha Handie.
So far, according to our News 3 Hampton Roads Homicide tracker, there have been four homicides in Hampton this year.
News
Hampton Roads 2024 Homicide Tracker
This includes Hampton High School football player, 17-year-old Vic-Quan Newton.
Hampton
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Anton Bell, Hampton’s Commonwealth's Attorney, says even though homicides in the area are on the decline, the goal is to always get to zero.
“Each number represents an individual. And we want each individual to matter. And so when we do events like this, we are emphasizing the person. They matter, they lived, they had experiences, and we want to celebrate their lives,” he said.
Here is a list of the events happening through the rest of the week.
-April 22: Hope, Hampton, Football: 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Gosnold’s Hope Park
-April 23 Hope After Dark: 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Access 2.0.
-April 23 and 25: City on my Chest Hope Fest: Hampton Middle and High Schools.
-April 26: 2024 Gala of Hope: 6:30 p.m. at Virginia Air and Space Science Center.
Hampton
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More information on the events and how to sign up can be found here.
