NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Sharing a “Warm Embrace” with family members of victims of gun violence.
It’s the mission of one Norfolk city councilman, who wants to show mothers they’re being listened to. Local moms say it’s made a big difference in their healing journeys.
Their next meeting will take place this Thursday at Norfolk Botanical Garden, a calming place to gather together.
“When you come to think about death and your kids going on, you would hope that there’s somewhere beautiful like this,” said Monique Hamilton.
Monique Hamilton’s life was forever changed on March 2, 2023. That’s when she got a call that her daughter, Dyamond, was shot and killed in her Las Vegas apartment. Now she’s meeting with other local moms who’ve experienced a similar loss to lean on.
“When you’ve lost a child to gun violence, people tend to say they understand, but they don’t really understand until you’re in this situation,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton is one of hundreds of mothers in Hampton Roads who’ve lost their children to gun violence.
Seeing families experience loss was one of the reasons Norfolk City Councilman John “J.P.” Paige organized “A Warm Embrace.”
“When one child is lost, one child is too many for me,” Councilman Paige said.
The meetings serve as an opportunity for mothers and other family members to come together and share stories of their loved ones, to keep the voices of the victims of gun violence alive.
“When we get an atmosphere of healing, which addresses the trauma stacked upon trauma upon trauma that we deal with in our communities,” Councilman Paige said. “It opens doors to heal us, which opens doors for us to be well so we can get back to living our lives the way that we should be living.”
He believes a holistic and spiritual approach is necessary to address gun violence in our community.
“The things that we’ve done in the past have not worked, so we have to go to the core of the issue, and this is the way that we do it,” Councilman Paige said.
Councilman Paige says he wants moms to know those in leadership are paying attention.
“Knowing that we breathe the same air, that we cry the same tears, that we hurt and feel the same pain, and that we are addressing it head on is enough to put us all together in multiple rooms to have the dialogs that have been missing. As to what solutions we have to come up with,” Councilman Paige said.
Another mom in the group, Yolanda Stoner. She lost her son, Stephon Walton, to gun violence in Chesapeake on July 23, 2000. She says he touched so many souls in 19 years that there weren’t enough seats at the funeral home.
“At 19 years old, he that so many souls that the funeral home had to open the doors outside to let the people hear the services, at 19, not 91,” Stoner said.
Stoner says it helps to have an external source to share stories and to lean on, because family members are experiencing grief at the same time in their own ways.
“I realized that on my own, because how can my family support me when they’re going through the same thing and that understand what happened and not understand why it happened or how to deal with it,” said Stoner. “If you are the strong person in the family, how do you get help? You know, how can they help you when you’re always the support?”
And as Dyamond’s case prepares to go to trial soon, Monique says she’s already found a support system she never knew she’d need.
“It helps to be able to talk to other people that are going through the same things that you’re going through and understand where where your head is it and where your heart is,” Hamilton said.
“I think it will help bringing awareness to the families, at least the mothers, the fathers, the siblings, just letting them know that they’re not alone,” Stoner said.
The event is this Thursday night, June 20, 2024, from 6 to 9 at the Norfolk Botanical Garden’s Rose Garden Hall. Complimentary admission for the event is from 5:30-7, and parking is limited.