Friend Fest Works To Lower Crime In Willmore City

Live music, face painting, a pot luck and skill share workshops are just a few events planned for Friend Fest this Saturday at Drake Park in West Long Beach. A group of about 25 Willmore City residents known as The Friendship Neighborhood are working to unify their community, the city’s first historic district. Their first event is from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Willmore City is a part of District 1, which according to LBreport.com, has the highest number of violent crimes in Long Beach. At a series of crime prevention meetings with city staff and LBPD--when video surveillance in public spaces and neighborhood watch programs were the offered solutions to the growing violent crime rate--the group decided to do more.

“If you try to make the neighborhood better by building new relationships, you will see things improve. That’s the strategy we’re taking,” said Willmore resident Ben Fisher, 29.   

A shooting that resulted in the death of 23-year-old Nelson Suarez of Willmore City, last March served as a catalyst for change. It was one of many shootings in this neighborhood where Fisher said neighbors have been evacuated from their homes and entire blocks have been on lockdown because of gun violence.

The group began with meetings at Drake Park and community trash clean ups as a way to introduce their mission to the neighborhood.

Fisher is part of a group of younger residents who have recently moved into Willmore City. Rather than run the risk of gentrifying the community, the group’s goal is to combine talent, skills and resources to celebrate Willmore’s diversity.

“We want to be a positive force here,” said Willmore City resident Cassandra Vitale, 28. “A lot of the newer residents here have been privileged to have never witnessed this kind of violence before. We want to figure out what people living here want by creating a dialogue and making friends.”

A grant from the city’s Building Healthy Communities initiative helped put on the Friend Fest “for its efforts of creating a network of allies to celebrate the gifts and talents of neighbors rather than focusing on deficits of the area,” according to a press release. Kicking off Saturday’s event are icebreaker activities as well as skillshare workshops from Foodscape Long Beach. The nonprofit organization that builds and maintains community gardens will teach a workshop on seed planting. 

Three bands are scheduled to perform throughout the day including Romero y Perez. Community members are encouraged, but not required, to bring gently used goods for the “free market.” Anyone can take what they need and whatever is left over will be donated, said Fisher.

“Whether this works remains to be seen. It’s a long process that we’ve just started. We’re not going to be able to help with the violence until way down the line, but it’s a step in the right direction,” said Vitale.