Currently the city is working to address the root causes of violence through the Gary 4 Life and THRIVE programs administered by Joy Holliday, who also chairs the Gary Police Reform Commission.

Prince said the President’s signature on an executive order would create an opportunity for funding to tackle root-cause issues, such as mental health.

Holliday said until the root causes of violence are dealt with, guns can be taken away, but people still will beat each other to death with a stick.

“We have to change behavior,” she said. “This is a fight we have understood (in Gary).

“It is a public health issue for us.”

Gary Council President William Godwin, D-1st, called the effort to walk to Washington, D.C., and seek the president’s support inspiring.

“It is so important we start to recognize violence as a public health issue,”

Godwin said.

The next stop on the “We Want to Live” tour takes place in South Bend.

The group plans to make stops in Ohio in Toledo and Cleveland; in Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia; and in the state of Delaware. They plan to mark July 4 in front of the Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington.

Carrie Napoleon is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.