South bend community members gathered Sunday at Century Center for an anti-violence summit, to brainstorm a way to curb violence in the community.
Members of the religious community, as well as residents of South Bend and officials from the South Bend School Corporation participated in the event.
Organizers say coming together as a community may be the first step.
“One of the biggest things is do you know who your neighbor is. And to many of us that live such isolated lives, we don't know who lives next door to us and we need to take that time and introduce ourselves and talk to our friends and neighbors and know what the situation is so that you can alert the necessary authorities if you have to,” said Carol Mayernick, Executive Director, United Religious Community.
“This is the topic that we all have to be worried about because we are part of each other and violence affects us all,” said Cathy Stoner, near northwest neighborhood resident.
Organizers say they hope to hold more events like Sunday's in the near future.
