ORLANDO -- Residents of the Pine Hills community gathered Saturday for the third and final rally aimed at stopping the violence in their community.
The rallies against the violence began in the wake of three murders in the last week, all of which remain unsolved.
Saturday's "Stop The Killing" rally took place at the J-Mart plaza at Hiawassee and Silver Star roads.
As performers sang and danced, filling the whole area with their voices, a woman quietly pinned a picture of her daugher to a board.
Nancy Lawson said her daughter, Terry Lee, was killed in Pine Hills in September. She remembers what her neighborhood used to be like, and said she knows what it will take to get it back.
"Instead of 'When you hear the gunshots, just close your doors,' pick up the phone and call the police," Lawson said.
Police are no stranger to Pine Hills. Over the years, drugs and acts of violence have increasingly plagued the commnuity. Add the three murders in the last week alone, and residents said they worry about even going outside.
"It's scary to be part of a community where your family members are in jeopardy all of the time," a Pine Hills resident at the rally said.
Rally organizers said they are trying to get rid of exactly that fear. They want to motivate people to get invovled and take back their neighborhoods.
Organizers also plan to start mentoring, educational and job recrutment programs so that young people have someone to look up to, and other options.
"We teach by example, and that's the thing. They need to begin to look at us and see what we are doing," said Dr. A.L. Helligar, organizer of the rally. "We are productive people. We are part of the solution, and not part of the problem."
Lawson said she hopes this new idea will work. She knows it is too late for her daughter, but not to late for her community
"Maybe someday, there will be hope. Maybe someday it can be a place where you can let your kids back outside to play," Lawson said.
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