Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez allocated funding to the SUV Program to help combat gun violence
in The Bronx. Photo by Jason Cohen
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BY JASON COHEN
As the weather has gotten
warmer, bodies have continued
to drop throughout the
city. In fact, on June 11, there
was a shooting in every borough.
In an effort to curb the gun
violence, Assemblywoman Nathalia
Fernandez allocated
$45,000 on June 14 to the Stand
Up to Violence (SUV) Program.
SUV is Jacobi Medical
Center’s Violence Interruption
Program funded by the NYS
Division of Criminal Justice
Services.
“We know SUV was working
before COVID and during
and I’d be remiss if I didn’t
take an opportunity to help,”
Fernandez said to the Bronx
Times. “This is a real solution
that we see is working. It’s a
very practical system and their
way of addressing it (gun violence)
treats it like a disease.”
The assemblywoman noted
that the Bronx needs more
safe spaces for children and
teens, diversity in businesses
and better programming in
schools. While there are two
YMCAs coming here in the
fall, more must be done, she
stressed.
If these things existed then
maybe Bronxites would feel
less of a need to use a gun, she
commented.
“Young people when they
join gangs it’s because they’re
looking for community,” Fernandez
said.
One person who is on the
front lines of this work is Pastor
Jay Gooding, who does community
relations for SUV. While
SUV has helped reduce gun violence
in the northeast Bronx,
the pastor has seen his share of
parents who have lost children
at his church, Miracle Revival
Center on Macombs Road.
According to Gooding,
there’s no panacea for the gun
violence, but organizations
like SUV do their best to be out
in the community and make a
difference.
“Even though the faces
have changed, the commitment
has remained the same,”
he explained. “Statistics don’t
show the work these guys are
doing.”
While Gooding understands
that many people suffer
from mental illnesses, like
Fernandez, he feels a lot of gun
violence could be prevented
if the city provided the Bronx
with more safe spaces and better
funded schools.
As a parent, the shootings
plaguing the city and borough
concern him deeply.
“There is a lack of resources
for young people, especially
here in Bronx County,”
he said. “That’s why I’m grateful
for people like Nathalia
Fernandez.”
The pastor stressed that the
recent stretch of gun violence
is alarming and he hasn’t’
seen anything like it in a long
time. He is friends with Eve
Hendricks, who 17-year-old son
Brandon was murdered last
summer.
Gooding noted that when a
husband or wife passes away
the other becomes a widow
and a child becomes an orphan
when a parent dies. However,
there is no word to describe
when someone loses their son
or daughter.
“Too many times I’ve had to
sit with parents in the midst
of their pain,” he said.
Fighting violence!
Fernandez allocates money
to address gun violence
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