Meeting addresses gun violence in the Jackson area
JACKSON, Tenn. — After losing her son Tyler Guy to gun violence on May 20 of this year, Sabrina Blue wants to help combat gun violence in the area.
“To lose him was devastating, but there’s a bigger picture too than just my loss,” Blue said. “How do we stop this from happening to another family?”
Before his death, Blue says Tyler complained of a lack of activities for teenagers in the Jackson area, and Blue believes by combating that, we can create better lives and decrease the amount of gun violence in the area. So she created The Tyler Guy Fund.
“The Tyler Guy Fund is a fund through the West Tennessee Healthcare Foundation, and the purpose of this fund is to support existing programs with our youth centers, and to look at ways we can reduce gun violence in the Madison County area,” said Blue.
Blue says that a large part of the fund would go towards helping other nonprofits provide resources for teenagers, but she would also like to see a teenage youth center for ages 13-19.
“Teenagers really say the same thing, there’s no place for them to go,” Blue said. “They need a place to go that is all theirs.”
With most available places closing early, that leaves teenagers with nothing to do in the area on evenings or during weekends, so creating a teenage youth center with fun, educational, and even wellness programs for those who need it, Blue believes it would make a difference.
“We’re not looking to take away from any other youth center that is already here,” said Blue. “Several great ones here in our community, but we really need everyone to step together and look at this as an opportunity to make a difference.”
Blue says to combat this issue, the entire community needs to band together and fight it together.
“This is going to take our whole community to come together and for this one opportunity to really make a difference in the lives of our teenagers. And we can do this if we work together collectively,” said Blue.
The next meeting will be hosted on August 23 at 11 a.m. at the Jackson Chamber of Commerce. Everyone is encouraged to attend.
If you would like to donate or become part of the cause, click here to visit West Tennessee Healthcare Foundation’s donation page where you can select “Tyler Guy Fund” from a drop down menu. You can also send a check payable to West Tennessee Healthcare Foundation with “Tyler Guy Fund” in the memo.
SEE ALSO: Family remembers teen gone too soon
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