October 11, 2022
Today at Roxborough High School, we joined Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta and Senator Vincent Hughes as they announced a $500,000 safety grant for Roxborough.
Jerry Jordan's prepared remarks are below and here.
We heard incredibly moving remarks from Nicolas Elizalde's mother Meredith and his grandmother Marge LaRue, who spoke so powerfully about Nicolas, the devastation wrought by gun violence, and the urgency of action including in the upcoming elections.
Watch just some of Meredith Elizalde and Marge LaRue's remarks:
Jerry Jordan, President
Remarks at Roxborough High School
Safety Grant Announcement
10/11/2022
I am thankful for the leadership of Representative Malcolm Kenyatta and Senator Vincent Hughes who have secured this safety grant for the Roxborough High School community. But quite frankly, I am enraged and horrified to be here.
Because once again, a community is broken, shattered, left to pick up the pieces after a tragedy which should be unthinkable– but is in fact, all too common.
Less than two weeks ago, five children were shot leaving football practice right here at Roxborough High School–and fourteen year old Nicolas Elizalde, a beloved son and grandson was killed.
In his death, he leaves a void in the hearts of his mother Meredith, a Philadelphia teacher, his grandmother Marge LaRue, and all who knew and loved him. A student at Saul High School, Nicolas was described as kind, gentle, and an advocate for justice.
Nearly 200 children have been shot in our beloved city this year.
Just last night, a thirteen-year-old boy, an eighth grader at Wagner Middle School was murdered, robbed of his future dreams and aspirations. And once again, a community is shattered, left to pick up the pieces of a tragedy that is far, far too common.
The collective trauma wrought by this ongoing crisis is overwhelming. I've said it so many times before: we send our sincerest condolences and thoughts, but they are wholly insufficient. Our children are dying, our neighbors are dying.
Today, Senator Hughes and Representative Kenyatta are providing tangible resources for Roxborough High School, and they are resources that the school specifically asked for.
It is my sincere hope will be only the start of what is an urgently needed and holistic means of truly addressing the crisis of gun violence. We can, and we must, invest in resources in every single community in our city.
And we can, and we must, implement common sense gun reform.