Palatka town hall draws residents, nonprofits and police to outline mentoring and recreation plans after recent shootings

Dozens of residents, nonprofit leaders and city officials gathered at a Palatka town-hall meeting Wednesday to discuss recent youth shootings and community responses, with calls for more mentoring, recreation programs and better coordination of services.

The meeting, convened by city officials, was explicitly a listening session and not a formal council meeting, a commissioner emphasized at the start. City leaders said they would take notes and assemble a working group to develop follow-up steps.

The session centered on grief, safety concerns and practical remedies. Melissa, executive director of the Mi Mi Project, said community groups are fragmented and urged unity: "If you would ever stop worrying about me, my, mine, and start worrying about us, ours, we might actually make a difference as a community." She described efforts to support children who struggle in large schools and stressed nonprofits’ need to coordinate services and share grant resources.

A law enforcement representative told attendees that social-media posts and rumors complicated responses to large gatherings around the holidays and said police were on scene attempting to disperse crowds when violent incidents occurred. "You get pieces of the truth, but then you also get rumors," the representative said, asking residents to be cautious about spreading unverified information.

Residents described personal losses and fear. Several speakers urged more programs that keep young people active and supervised, including mentoring, sports, summer camp and neighborhood outreach. One speaker recalled a community-run youth center and urged similar, sustained efforts rather than short-term responses.

City and nonprofit staff described existing programs and immediate openings for volunteers. A recreation department representative said the city is operating a community center out of the old Jenkins Middle School at 1900 Napoleon Avenue and is offering open gym nights, soccer and flag football; recent sessions drew about 10–17 kids on some nights. A Family Life Center representative said a mentor program meets on the 2nd and 4th Sundays, from about 3 to 5 p.m., and that a seven-week summer camp costs $200 per child.

Speakers repeatedly returned to parenting, mentoring and community accountability as long-term fixes. Pastor Alonzo Mulberry, the city chaplain, closed the meeting with prayer and a call for sustained solidarity: "We pray for the wisdom to be able to do what is necessary in this city," he said.

City leaders said they will convene department heads, nonprofit partners and community volunteers to translate ideas from the session into coordinated actions and that they will announce a follow-up meeting. No formal policy or funding decisions were taken at the session.

The meeting highlighted tensions between immediate public-safety needs and longer-term social supports. Residents urged quicker, visible police presence in trouble spots while also pressing for investment in mentoring, school supports and recreation that proponent speakers said can reduce violence over time.

Officials asked attendees to sign volunteer forms at the meeting and promised outreach to people who signed up. A follow-up session and implementation timeline were not yet specified; city staff said they would report back with concrete next steps.