Community Corner

In Show of Unity, Old Town Comes Together for "Day of Healing"

About 200 residents, city leaders and pastors came together to stand against violent crime in Old Town.

On an unseasonably bright and brilliant day in South San Francisco, about 200 people gathered in the warm sun at a neighborhood park to pray, mourn and heal from the violence that plagued their city last year.

“This is a new day in Old Town,” said Rev. Joel Roman, senior pastor at Ministerio Casa de Oracion. “Can I get an amen?”

Roman stood just steps from Eighth Lane, the alley where in a still-unsolved crime.  There were a total of five murders in South San Francisco in 2010, all in the Old Town neighborhood.

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Since the Dec. 22 shooting that killed Gonzalo Avalos, 19, Omar Cortez, 18, and Hector Flores, 20, to demand changes from city leaders and the police department. The city council from its reserve funds to pay for four more police officers and provide seed money for a community coalition on safe neighborhoods.

At that council meeting, many residents complained about police harassment and profiling, and some said the funds would be better spent on providing activities for youth.  However, Saturday’s event, dubbed “A Day of Healing,” was about coming together.

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“It’s good for the community, very positive,” said Ramon Olmos, 30, the older brother of shooting victim .  Olmos has been leading Bible study classes for local residents since the shooting, and came out on Saturday along with his wife, sons, mother and siblings in support of the positive message.

Local resident Annette Dela Cruz helped organize the event and recruited local pastors to participate.  The participants gathered at 10am at the corner of Tamarack Lane and Linden Avenue and walked the five blocks to the park at Eighth Lane.  Five freshly planted trees were waiting there, one for each shooting victim in 2010.

Many city leaders attended, including Mayor Kevin Mullin, City Councilmembers Karyl Matsumoto, Mark Addiego and Pedro Gonzalez, School Board Vice President Judy Bush, Chief of Police Michael Massoni and State Assemblymember Jerry Hill.

“The city was rocked by these killings, and we mourn along with these families,” Mayor Kevin Mullin told the crowd. “The only way forward is through partnership.”

“The tragedy of the last year, the loss of young men, cannot happen again.  Because of the heart and the voice this community, it will not happen again,” Hill said. “We will move forward as a great, peaceful community.”

Political leaders shared the podium with pastors and community members, who spoke, sang, prayed and frequently testified to the healing power of God.  Near the end of the service, the victims’ families came forward to accept flowers and the prayers of the crowd.

“We love you, and we’re there for you,” said Leona Tavake, a local resident who arranged to plant the trees in honor of the five victims.  “All you have to do is ask.”

After the service, the families went forward to shovel dirt onto the bases of the newly planted trees.

Tavake, who has regularly attended the community meetings held since the shooting, said the community is tightly knit.

“We all grew up together,” she said.


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