Mothers, Others Band Together To Halt Violence

Jere Mansfield’s son went to a Spokane Valley grocery store earlier this year and was shot after refusing to give another man a beer.

“It just opened my eyes to the fact that it could happen to me. It could happen to you,” Mansfield said. “The story is that violence is here.”

Her 21-year-old son, Joel Mansfield, is now paralyzed below the waist and living at her Valley home.

She wants to stop such senseless violence. Mansfield is among the first members of the newly formed Spokane chapter of Mothers Against Violence in America.

Ironically, the Spokane chapter of Mothers Against Violence held its first meeting last month on the day 9-year-old Rachel Carver disappeared. The next day, her body was found and her uncle confessed to killing her.

That’s exactly the kind of violence the group wants to stop.

Mothers Against Violence in America, modeled after Mothers Against Drunk Driving, was founded in Seattle in December 1993 to search for solutions to violent crime.

The organization for mothers has dozens of chapters in Washington, and mothers in another 17 states want to start their own chapters.

The group is working toward three goals: Building a network of children’s advocates, supporting efforts to curb crime by and against youths, and promoting education that helps kids control their anger.

Mothers Against Violence has supported setting aside money for drug- and violence-prevention programs and the passage of the federal ban on assault weapons.

Although some members’ families have been crime victims, the group is intended for anyone tired of violence in society.

Take Carol Hunt, a 58-year-old Spokane resident, for example.

In her job as the membership director for the Girl Scouts Inland Empire Council, Hunt fields questions from women who lead Girl Scouts.

Until a few years ago, the questions she received tended to be innocent: What were favorite campfire songs, scout leaders asked.

More recently, the tone of the questions has changed.

Girl Scout leaders now worry about dealing with child abuse, kids fighting and family problems.

That’s why Hunt decided to become involved with Mothers Against Violence.

“We have to put respect back into people’s lives,” she said.

, DataTimes