[LWVNM Action] Fwd: TOMORROW: LWV Monthly Coalition Call with Guest Speaker Miranda Viscoli

[Meredith Machen]

Join LWV members from other states tomorrow night--Monday, June 5, 5pm
MT--to hear Miranda Viscoli, New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence, describe
some of the activities that are being conducted here to address the growing
scourge.  Not only is the group building awareness of the need to enact gun
safety legislation, it is building youth resiliency and advocacy. See more
below.

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Allison Jordan <ajordan at americanprogress.org>
Date: Sun, Jun 4, 2023 at 10:53 AM
Subject: TOMORROW: LWV Monthly Coalition Call with Guest Speaker Miranda
Viscoli
To:
CC: Mary Lewis Grow <marylewisgrow at gmail.com>, smccalley1 at gmail.com <
smccalley1 at gmail.com>

Dear friends,

We look forward to seeing you *tomorrow evening* from* 5-6 pm MT/ * *7-8 pm
EST* for our next LWV/CAP network call.  Some of the states you represent
have finished their legislative sessions and there will undoubtedly be news
to report from the trenches, both good and bad.

And we can look forward to a very interesting guest speaker, Miranda
Viscoli, Co-President of New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence.  Her visit
with us will be timely, given the attention currently being given to CVI –
Community Violence Intervention initiatives.  Miranda and New Mexicans to
Prevent Gun Violence realized early in their existence that community and
awareness building activities could play an important role in preventing
gun violence. Since then, the organization has pioneered several
initiatives focused on building community awareness, with the most recent
begin a gun safety radio program which will air throughout New Mexico over
the next 6 months!

In addition to their legislative work and achievements, New Mexicans to
Prevent Gun Violence help facilitate ERPO trainings for law enforcement,
oversee gun violence prevention workshops in local school districts, and
established the fantastic “Guns to Gardens” initiative. This initiative
enlists artisans to convert firearms (turned in or confiscated) into
gardening tools that, in turn, are presented to someone who has lost a
family member to gunshot.  The presentations have become moving community
events, attracting city officials, legislators, and survivors. To date,
NMPGV has facilitated and funded 17 gun buybacks and removed over 1,700
firearms out of New Mexico’s communities. Notably, over 40% of the guns
taken in are semi-automatic firearms and assault-style weapons. Guns are
dismantled on-site and the scrap metal is forged into gardening tools by
high school students from RFK Charter School through the SWEPT nonprofit.

Another exciting initiative championed by New Mexicans to Prevent Gun
Violence has been their school mural projects.  Through grants and other
funding, they have hired artists to meet with young people to create murals
on school walls to highlight the tragedy of gun violence.  As important as
the finished murals themselves has been the mentoring their creation
fosters between caring adults and the students themselves.  The project
gives students an extended opportunity to talk about losses they’ve
experienced and their fears.  And the finished murals remain – reminders of
all the reasons for young people to avoid resolving their issues with
firearms. To learn more about the mural project click here
<http://gvptoolkit.org/>!

Miranda is a dynamic presence and will give us an inspiring
evening.  Allison will send you the link for our meeting on Monday.  Please
feel free to invite other LWV friends to join us on this and future calls!


Join Zoom Meeting
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All the best,

Mary Lewis Grow and Sue McCalley
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