LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Young people are getting shot and killed on our streets in greater numbers. But amid the violence, there are programs aimed at curbing the trend.
More and more, the calls for help are for victims too young to drive a car. But inside Greater Galilee Church in west Louisville, in a community that’s seen a rise in gun violence in recent months, 11-year-old Kyan Wakefield is focused on something else – robotics.
“I learned about the motors and how they work, and the batteries. It helps me learn about what I want to be," said Wakefield.
He dreams of becoming an engineer. He said he enjoys working on cars, making them faster and customizing them. It’s an escape from the anxiety he feels when he closes his eyes.
“When I’m going to bed like at night time, I just hear gunshots almost every night," he said.
He runs to the one person he feels called to protect.
“I got a brother and he’s one-year-old," he said. “I don’t want him to die young, so I got to protect him.”
In the past few years, he’s lost two cousins to gun violence.
“I was really sad, but I knew I couldn’t die next. So, I sleep with a bat, like right next to my bed and stuff," said Wakefield.
And for three months, he’s made a student program at Greater Galilee Church a priority.
“I feel like I’m about to learn something new today, like it’s something else I can do. It don’t always have to be sports. t could be something else like technology," he said.
Behind the program is Dr. Eric A Johnson, a pastor, at Greater Galilee Church. He grew up in Dallas, Texas, raised by a single mother who worked three jobs.
“Grew up in a situation where I didn't have anybody," said Johnson.
He attended the University of North Texas, and almost didn’t graduate. But be thanks one special person for giving him some tough love.
“And my dean, Dean Sawyer said, 'From now on, you're going to be in the library every day from eight until it closes, and you're going to read reports.' And he turned my life around, because that's where I met Howard Thurman, that's where I met Malcolm X. That's where I met Martin Luther King," he said.
He made a choice to focus on education. At Greater Galilee Church, he encourages kids to make the same choice.
“We challenged them every day, to be better today than you were yesterday. And to prove people wrong, prove them wrong, prove them wrong," said Johnson.
Johnson told FOCUS the problem of teen violence in Louisville is "gargantuan" and seems to be getting worse.
During the pandemic, he said funding from church donors and local nonprofits for his summer and after-school programs have been cut by about 75%.
“The West End churches need assistance. That's the bottom line. We have been shortchanged, we've been overlooked. We've been mistreated. We've been misdiagnosed,” he said.
He said children, lacking support at home and from the community, have often paid the price. He said it leads to too many kids picking up a gun, and too many kids getting hurt and killed.
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“They’re there with the wrong person at the wrong time and their life is taken from them due to senseless gun violence," said Tyree Williams, an officer with the Louisville Metro Police Department.
Police officer Tyree Williams said he sees that violence reflected on the street every day. He’s also lived it. His sister and cousin were just kids when they were shot to death more than two decades ago.
“He was murdered on his way to school, robbed for a pair of tennis shoes," said Williams.
“It was horrible for me," he said. “I still can't watch a video of my sister and hear her voice because it still hurts that bad.”
But for this Louisville native, that hurt has become his motivation.
“I wanted to help the area which I grew up," he said.
He said his job is a challenge as community centers in the area struggle to stay afloat.
“Kids don't have anywhere to go. That increases the rise of teens getting together and doing things that they shouldn't be doing," he said.
Those pulling the trigger, sometimes as young as 12 years old. And those wounded, he said, even younger.
“Eight, nine years old is a victim," Johnson said.
He said weapons are becoming more dangerous.
“A lot of high powered rifles, a lot of handguns with extended magazines and drum magazines with high round counts," said Williams.
For Kyan, the sounds of sirens and cries for help among those around his age may be familiar. But they don’t determine his fate.
“It makes me feel like disappointed," he said. He said at Greater Galilee Church, he's thinking about his future.
“We’re better than this, like we can do better," he said.
If you’re interested in programs at Greater Galilee Church in the West End, or other programs for kids and teens in our community, you can find more information on our website WHAS11.com. And if you have a topic you’d like our FOCUS team to investigate, you can email us at focus@whas11.com.
RESOURCES:
Greater Galilee Church provides programs to kids that are often sponsored by church donors and local nonprofits.
- 3918 West Broadway Louisville, Ky 40211 E. Indian Trail Louisville, KY 40213
- Contact: 502-772-7295; ggbc8193@gmail.com
Louisville BLOCS (Building Louisville’s Out-of-School Time Coordinated System) is a partnership of Louisville education, government, and community impact organizations striving to improve opportunities for youth. The group creates awareness about after-school programs. You can find after school programs available for kids and teens in the Louisville area:
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