Garden Grows A Gun Violence Response

A near-complete Valley Street healing garden dedicated to victims of gun violence was prayed over and declared as sacred ground of ​“peace and justice” for families to heal.

A line-up of 11 New Haven clergy participated in the day of prayer held Saturday at the New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence scheduled to officially open this summer. The garden has taken shape off Valley Street in the shadow of West Rock.

The project, originally proposed in 2017, is spearheaded by three women who each lost a child of their own to gun violence: Marlene Miller Pratt, Celeste Robinson Fulcher, and Pamela Jaynez. The trio met in a local survivors-of-homicide group and joined forces to bring Miller Pratt’s vision to life.

The Saturday gathering was hosted in response to the recent acts of gun violence in Atlanta and Colorado, said Rev. Shelley Emery Holness, who is working with the organizing team to offer spiritual consulting to families at the park once open.

A group of about 30 community members made up of clergy, alders, and family members of homicide victims gathered for a walk through of the park and a prayer vigil.

The park includes a tree of life, Magnitude Walkway, The Lost Generation sculpture, wall of quotes, and a lecture hall-style sitting area.

When one enters the garden The Lost Generation sculpture can be seen from the entrance. The sculpture displays a family unit at the start of the pathway of hundreds of victims of gun violence from 1976 to 2021. As one walks down the path the sculpture’s family shape becomes distorted and breaks apart. This represents the impact of gun violence on a family said Miller Pratt. Though at the end of the pathway the family shape is restored showing that families ​“can get through it,” she said.

The team got help from the New Haven Police Department to gather most of the victims’ names while others were submitted by family members.

Soon families of the victims will be able to visit the park to see their child, spouse, parent, or siblings name in ​“positive light” rather than just at the cemetery. ​“It’s like their lives are now in a museum and will never be lost,” said Robinson Fulcher.

The organizing group agreed that the park is meant to be a place of healing for families and an ​“awakening” for community members who will see the hundreds of New Haven victims lost to gun violence. The names of victims lost in 2021 were recently added to the Magnitude Walkway, with more than 700 names total.

“We have come now God asking you for understanding, asking you for guidance, asking you for mercy and grace to abstain and uphold us during these difficult times. We ask you now to shed some light on these families,” said Senior Pastor James Burgess of First Church of God. ​“We realize that it takes all of us to come together to uphold one another. We’re praying for change in this community. Change in our state. Change in our government. Our land needs to be healed.”

The organizers said they hope the park can also be used as an outdoor classroom for schools to use for field trips teaching about social justice, mentoring programs, and a meeting place for organizations working to end violence.

For the lead organizing mothers, the park is a dream come true that will ensure their kids are never forgotten.

Miller Pratt said one victim’s family member didn’t have the money to bury their brother. Now, thanks to the park, they can see him name engraved in a brick on the pathway.

Some of the pathway’s years range from having one name to dozens.

Miller Pratt’s hope is that ​“even those that committed murder will come here and choose justice,” she said.

A wall of quotes from family members circles the park’s sitting area for families to engage in a ​“trivia-like” search for a statement that applies to their memory of their child.

“You feel sadness while seeing all the names. Then it makes us smile to be able to think about the story of our kids,” Miller Pratt said.

The final steps until the park is completed is to plant flowers and grass. The park will be dedicated to the city with a ribbon cutting scheduled for June 12.

“I’m asking now, dear God, that in some way or form, that you would allow the laws of the land to change. That politicians will do more for those who are capable of walking out of a store with a gun and the needless act of pulling that trigger to take someone’s life,” said Senior Pastor Cicely Little of New Freedom Missionary Baptist Church.

“But, dear God. I’m also asking now that you put block watch back in the communities, especially in the Black community, so that we won’t shut or close our eyes and our ears to what’s going on around us. But, dear God, that when we see something we’ll be brave enough to say something, dear God, instead of saying, ​‘It’s not my child. I don’t need to be concerned about that.’ But, dear god, I’m asking that you change the hearts and the minds of your people.”

Throughout the planning and construction steps, the organizers received helping hands and support for community members, Westville Alder Richard Furlow, and the New Haven Fire Department (NHFD).

Miller Pratt invited Mayor Justin Elicker to the Saturday gathering. He said he was most struck by the range of ages of the victims. The youngest being an infant who hasn’t aged to her first birthday.

(The park proposal was originally supported by the city under former Mayor Toni Harp’s administration.)

Elicker said he bears responsibility for all of the names listed and not listed for 2020 and 2021 as mayor.

“It’s a reflection of our society that here are so many names there and they continue to build,” he said. ​“But this path is not infinite either.” Elicker said the city must do better with investing in youth and education to help combat gun violence.

A next-door neighbor named Tom dedicates time weekly to cleaning up trash surrounding the park area, said Miller Pratt.

The team of moms is looking into having a bridge build across the neighboring West River to connect to the trail or baseball park.

“It should all be connected. Parents with kids at the park can come here and reflect or you can go for a walk on the trail after paying your respects here. A bridge would make it complete,” Miller Pratt said.