ST. LOUIS — St. Louis groups are uniting together to solve youth violence in the city.
It comes almost a week after a mass shooting downtown killed one teenager and injured nearly a dozen others.
Youth Ambassadors, which have been in St. Louis for a couple of years now, were joined by more volunteers and added activities on Saturday night.
It's an effort to provide kids and teens with safe spaces and a positive environment, according to Former Missouri State Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson.
"I think what happened last week can really set off a loud alarm for a lot of people in our city and our region, and so that's where we are now," he said.
While the physical stains from the mass shooting over Father's Day weekend in downtown St. Louis are gone, the search for solutions is far from over.
Keith Antone Willis Sr. is a project manager for the St. Louis Association of Community Organizations, one of the many groups stepping in to help solve the youth violence problem.
"No one organization, no one person, no one in the group is going to be able to fix this problem. It really is going to have to be all hands-on deck and I think we can do it. We will do it," he said.
Saturday night volunteers in orange vests walked through the heart of the city.
Their purpose, according to Johnson, goes much farther than just safety.
"I think our solutions are going to come from the youth that are coming to downtown, so we want to hear from them. We've told our ambassadors, and also the other volunteers, to document what they're being told and ask the young people what they would like to see in this region and not just downtown, but in our region," he said.
Johnson said that's just one step to solving the problem though.
"We can't let politics and personal issues stop this and impede us, and so this shows if we work together, what we can do. I think tonight is a great start for that work to continue this partnership throughout the summer," he said.
Working together is exactly what the Downtown Community Improvement District, Youth Ambassadors and other groups, like the St. Louis Association of Community Organizations did Saturday.
Willis said thanks to funding from the mayor's office, they were able to set up food trucks and games along Chestnut Street, as well.
"I believe that what a child will see, they will be. It's important that they have positive people down here, people that are going to be for their best interest, people that have services for them, people that care about them," he said.
While both Johnson and Willis hope this will provide safe spaces, activities and resources to the kids, they also know this isn't a one-size-fits all situation.
"It's going to be a number of people coming together. We're looking for organizations to come together and for people to come together. I do believe in the village concept. It does take a village to be able to pour into each and every one of these kids," Willis said.
"Let's all work together and I think we'll start seeing a difference," Johnson said.
According to Johnson, the groups will be doing this every Saturday through the summer.
If you have any ideas, you can reach out to the Downtown Community Improvement District at 314-499-1111.
If you have an organization that wants to volunteer on Saturday nights to help out, you can call 314-662-2019.