WASHINGTON — On the same day a teenage boy was shot and killed at a Metro station, the group The T.R.I.G.G.E.R. (True Reasons I Grabbed the Gun Evolved from Risk) Project hosted an event marking its commitment to preventing more gun violence.
Tia Bell, a D.C. native, founded the group four years ago with the first End Gun Violence Citywide Conference to assess where the gun violence public health crisis stood -- and to come up with a plan to cure it.
Her mission stems from personal experience with gun violence.
"I'm losing friends, it's normal. All I do is dribble the ball. Losing friends, I normalize it," Bell said in a speech kicking off Thursday's event.
Her mother survived it when Bell was 10 years old, and her uncle died by it when he was 21 and Tia was 17, getting ready to play basketball at NC State.
"I was Gatorade Player of the Year, All American coming out of HD Woodson, and I was wearing number 21. But unfortunately that was the age that he was taken at."
So, Bell asked her coach if she could wear number 4 in honor of his birthday, and her attachment to the number grew from there.
Now, she marks his birthday with this event to share the group's progress toward prevention.
"We cannot live like this no more. I'm not going to last like this. I'm draining my partners. And they're never going to say no," Bell said in her speech. "We need the foundational structure to support prevention -- not out of public safety. Prevention should live outside of public safety. It is a public health concept."
That's a concept Bell studied extensively as she earned her Master's Degree in youth development.
"Then just my heartache led to my purpose, and now we're here today to tell that story. And prayerfully, after people understand the vision for prevention, they invest in our vision for prevention, because we just are operating without the resources that are adequate to allow the support of our youth that they deserve," Bell said.
The event held at the Anacostia Arts Center also featured a showcase of Black creators, in a room lined with their art. On one side lay Bell's story of her childhood, basketball career, and journey to today's purpose serving young people.
Welcoming attendees to the event was a Go-go band made up of kids.
"We try to build personalized paths to prevention with our youth, right by our side as co-pilots. And it's really difficult to do that just without the resources. So today is about honoring the past, celebrating the present and funding the future of gun violence prevention," Bell said.