The 2019 Nation’s Capital violent death statistics closed with over 160 lives lost to gun violence and murder.  As a community leader we are disappointed!  The trauma and fear, that has been proven, by research and mental health professionals to have direct impact on the hearts, minds and souls of children and families who live under the threat of hurt, harm and danger, has got to properly be addressed if we are to be successful at ending the “state of emergency” that the District of Columbia and other cities across the nation are continually living under with the insurgence of youth perpetrated  violent crimes. 

“Our  abandoned, depressed, self-medicated children are using alcohol, street drugs & government supplied marijuana”, to quote Howard University’s Dr. Edwin C. Chapman MD, whose 40 years of specializing in Internal & Addiction medicines, in the Washington, D.C. area has provided him a front row seat to a vicious cycle of community wide post-traumatic stress disorder patients and individuals.  Dr. Chapman further explains, that “our communities need a massive infusion of MENTAL health services and LOVE augmented by sustainable resources, comprehensive health solutions, & jobs for adult citizens residing in areas where the educational levels are low and the propensity to be violent is high”.

How do we Engage, Empower & Educate our youth, while also successfully helping  to move those who lack the power to advocate for themselves to a better place?

M.I. Mother’s Keeper’s “Project E.N.U.F.F©, Change.org petition  is challenging the band-aid approach that is typically used by our legislators and public health officials when addressing  the youth violence in our communities and across the nation.    

The Mental health needs of our communities for years have long been swept under the rug, but no longer!

Responsible engagement requires sustainable programming and outreach that delivers prevention, intervention and innovation of services which are needed in every community where youth violent crimes are rampant.  Improving the “quality of living” in households where often-times, our youth don’t identify with it as being a home, is a start in the right direction.

We know that until our youth are taught that violence is not normal and more importantly, until our law makers understand that unless hope, despair and trauma is no longer a normal constant  for these troubled youth, we as a nation will continue to fail, and to bury our children.

Many single mothers are also head of households in heavily crime ridden areas of the Nation’s Capital, and they are responsible for raising sons.  We need to offer community foundations that give hope to families and youth seeking a way up and out of the trauma engulfed neighborhoods that require diligent leadership and culturally competent services to lead our youth toward  healthier lifestyles and more positive accountabilities.  If not us, then who?  If not now, then when?

M.I. Mother’s Keeper Mental Health Advocates know that by failing to successfully combat matters of Youth Violence & Mental Health, our youth and families will be left to continue to cope & survive daily in neighborhoods that threaten the very existence of our children.  E.N.U.F.F. is Enough!

Through the power of collaboration and shared services we are calling for approved legislative endorsement and funding to support  M.I. Mother’s Keeper’s Project E.N.U.F.F.'s call for guaranteed scholarship funding, comprehensive emergency, mental health & wellness, intervention & prevention resources, formal acknowledgement & implementation of advocacy representations  for children and families who go to sleep “every night under fire & fear” not knowing what tomorrow will bring, too afraid & disconnected to dream. *Send emailed request for detailed "Project E.N.U.F.F." outreach programming & guidelines: advocates4mi@gmail.com. 

As mental health advocates we are calling for an end to political & health agendas, that continually contribute to the deterioration and violent cycles of despair demonstrated by our youth.  Our youth and families in crisis must have an abundance of sustainable  jobs, housing, & vocational apprenticeship funded opportunities. We must replace the violence and guns from being our youths’ primary means of communicating during matters of conflict & depression.  We must help to restore peace in to their homes & communities, empower them, and hold them accountable for their actions.  It is imperative that the same District of Columbia Council who oversees the approval of a proposed $556 million police budget, justly make matters involving the unrest and unstable nature of our youth stemming from unaddressed and unavailable mental health resources, as well as a lack of comprehensive lawmaking,  the “red-flag”, “take-action” “priority-deserving”, crisis indications that they are! 

Please sign the petition and visit the www.Projectenuff.com website to leave your “empowering” message for our youth.

Thank you for caring! Mental Health Matters and M.I. Mother’s Keeper is advocating daily across the Nation’s Capital, despite the stigma, because our youth are under siege involving matters of untreated & unacknowledged trauma & mental health exposures & diagnoses.  “E.N.U.F.F is Enough!”  Immediate action & funding is needed now throughout our school systems & communities!  We must stand together for the detriment of our youths’ mental well-being & peace!

"At least 100 men, women, and children who are alive on New Year's Day 2020 will have been shot, stabbed or beaten to death in our nation's capital by this time next year.

"The Washington Post" Dec. 27th, 2019

M.I. Mother’s Keeper© Mental Health Advocates.  "E.N.U.F.F. is Enough!!!"