(The Gate/Sonya Eldridge)
Members of the Pilsen Family Task Force will walk alongside The Resurrection Project (TRP) and local families in the name of peace today, at the Spring Safety Peace Walk and prayer service.
The event will begin at 6 p.m. outside TRP, 1818 S. Paulina.
The purpose of the march is to promote peace and bring families and residents together, while “highlight[ing] positive places” in the community, event organizers said in a press release. Participants will also have the opportunity to learn about upcoming peace and safety initiatives and how they can get involved.
“It is important to demonstrate solidarity with the families of Pilsen and show the positive and peaceful side of our community,” TRP Safety Organizer Henry Cervantes said.
Scheduled for the first day of spring, Cervantes said the event was designed to set a positive tone for the year as warmer temperatures give way to an increase in violent crime.
And while violence may be on the decline in Pilsen as a whole, Cervantes said “it is still taking place [but] in more concentrated areas. He said the peace walk is just one example of a proactive approach to address community violence.
On March 7, during one of the first warm weekends of the year, two men, Johnathan Ramirez, 18, and Santos Bueno, 22, were shot and killed around 1:30 a.m. as they sat inside a parked vehicle at 1000 W. 18th Street, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
Ramirez and Bueno sustained multiple gunshot wounds and were pronounced dead at the scene, authorities said.