A group of community activist are holding a rally at the site of the shooting.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — It takes a village to raise a child. 

 

In Pittsfield, many residents won't sit by idly when bad things happen. They are going to respond, become active in the lives of young people, and try to create something positive. 

 

"We're really trying to encourage people to operate on the principal that it takes a village to raise a child," said Shirley Edgerton, who is involved in a multitude of community groups and works for the Pittsfield School System.

 

On Saturday night, a young man was shot dead at the intersection of Linden Street and Dewey Avenue and four others were injured. Edgerton joined with other  community organizations and individuals who work with programs for children to organize a rally this Friday at the site of the shooting to send a message that more needs to be done to help the city's youth.

 

The Stop the Violence Rally is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Friday and features speakers involved in a number of programs. Jermaine Sistrunk, father of one of the young women injured in the shooting, will be one of the speakers.

 

"He has an urgent message for young people," Edgerton said. "We want to encourage people to invest some time in their community."

 

Sistrunk uses sports as way to keep the young active, involved, and on the right path. Manny Slaughter has his own ways to reach the youth and he'll be speaking. Jerome Edgerton uses music. Mike Summers is an outreach worker with the Pittsfield Community Connection, which is launching a mentoring program and summer jobs program to help the city's teenagers.

 

"They all provide a vehicle to reach out to young people and to help empower them," Edgerton said. "We really do believe there are a lot of resources in the community."

 

The rally isn't intended to support any one program. The rally is intended to help inspire the city's residents to get involved in the community to start addressing the social, economic, and employment issues facing the city.

 

"We can't pretend that because we live in the Berkshires we don't have these issues," Edgerton said. 

 

The rally hopes to bring the community closer together and get more people active in bettering the city in a number of ways.

 

To address those issues, programs need to not only be available to help the next generation but also to help parents now. For example, volunteers can help with job programs for parents who need work. Or others that will help give parents the tools they need to support their children.

 

Edgerton says the answers to these issues — the issues that contributed to the shooting — isn't going to come from the top. It's going to come from the people who are struggling with these issues every day. 

 

"There is brilliance everywhere in the community. Sometimes, it is a matter of listening to what they have to say," Edgerton said.

 

She is hoping to encourage others to take active roles in organizations, to become role models, to volunteer their times to help others. 

 

"You just can't let things happen and not respond," Edgerton said. "More of us need to stand up, have our voices heard and try to make a difference."

 

After the rally, the Pittsfield Community Connect is hosting a followup event at Pitt Park. Residents are encouraged to come out to the rally and then walk to the park afterward to learn about ways to get involved. 

 

The rally was organized by a coalition of community members including Edgerton, Valerie Hamilton, Marie Richardson, Sistrunk, and Adam Hinds.