By Brandon Spencer, WCTV
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – It was a packed house Tuesday night as the Capital Area Justice Ministry hosted its Nehemiah Action Event to address concerns in the community.
Organizers hosted the event at the Old West Florida Enrichment Center.
The group met with city officials as they work to stifle gun violence and address housing woes in our area.
More than 600 people across 20 congregations showed up to be part of the change CAJM hopes to bring to the community.
”Every single person is a shareholder in this community we call Tallahassee and sometimes often there are people who are marginalized, and they are not seen, and they haven’t been seen for a long time,” Rabbi Michael Shields, the co-president of CAJM, says.
CAJM leaders asked each city official in attendance to back their strategies for both gun violence and housing.
”What we want to do is look at Tallahassee in a real way. People are homeless. I mean people are fighting for their lives out there trying to make ends meet in trying to pay their bills,” CAJM Team leader Maurice Allen says.
Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey was at the event, and he says what CAJM is doing is an important start.
“These are really detailed and difficult conversations. We are talking tens of millions of dollars. So I consider this the beginning of the conversation not the end of the conversation,” Dailey says.
While there was some disagreement on how to move forward with the housing crisis, Mayor Dailey says there’s still room for dialogue.
“It’s important to keep the lines of communications wide-open and I think tonight was a great demonstration that we can come together, we can disagree, we can work through the issues, and we will move this community forward,” Dailey says.
All parties say they hope to continue to fight for the well-being of all Tallahassee residents.
City officials agreed to meet with CAJM and any other group or organization looking to make change in the coming weeks to strategize on how to move the community forward.
See original story here.
