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Oak Park proclaims National Gun Violence Awareness Day; survivors and community groups speak at Village Hall
Summary
The Village Board adopted a proclamation recognizing National Gun Violence Awareness Day on June 6, 2025. Survivors and local organizers described personal loss, the Mercy Garden memorial project, and urged ongoing local prevention efforts.
The Village Board of Oak Park unanimously approved a proclamation recognizing the first Friday in June, June 6, 2025, as National Gun Violence Awareness Day in the village. Trustee Jenna Levin Jacobson read the proclamation and the board voted “Aye.”
The proclamation, presented by the board, cites national and state statistics and encourages residents to wear orange on June 6 to honor victims and survivors and to raise awareness about gun violence. It also invited the community to a local remembrance and healing event organized by Wear Orange Oak Park and Mercy Garden of Peace and Healing.
Survivor testimony and local memorial work: several survivors and community leaders spoke after the proclamation was read. Sherita Galloway, an Oak Park resident and survivor, spoke about her son Elijah Washer Sims, who was shot on Aug. 29, 2016. She recounted the loss and told the board, “He died the next morning in my arms a day before his seventeenth birthday.”
Allison Gerard, who described surviving a shooting while out for a run, said: “I didn't do anything to get shot. I was a woman on a run in Oak Park at 04:15 in the afternoon on a Tuesday…” She urged the board and community to recognize the intersectional roots of gun violence, including links to mental health, public health and community safety.
Mary Anne Buck, a survivor‑lead with Moms Demand Action, described Mercy Garden of Peace and Healing in the Austin neighborhood, a community garden created to provide healing, food and gathering space after gun violence. Buck recounted the garden’s genesis and said the garden “serves survivors of gun violence as a place to heal and grieve, and it prevents more gun violence from taking lives.” The proclamation notes a community gathering at Mercy Garden scheduled for June 7, with volunteers to paint memorial rocks and provide food.
The board’s action was procedural and unanimous; trustees and staff thanked community members for bringing the issue to the meeting and recognized the role of survivors and organizers who pressed for local awareness and prevention efforts.
