It wasn't the normal crowd at the Southeast Community Center as city leaders, parents, and the public met for a much greater cause to reclaim young adults.
Who best to shed light on the struggles many young adults face than those who have lived through it.
"My past doesn't define who I am today," Tanyetta Davis said Saturday morning. She began to lead a life of crime when she was 18 years old, but the law caught up with her. "I was convicted and sentenced to eight years."
Now she's turned a new leaf, but her past has continued to haunt her, finding a place to live has been a struggle.
"Because of my felony I can't get nobody to rent to me," Davis explained.
Chris Dixon's story was similar. He spent six years in prison.
"Did a lot of soul searching and that's not really the best place to find yourself," he said.
They were telling their stories to educate parents and young adults, but to also warn of what's to come when proceeding down the wrong path.
"Do you want to be where I am today, struggling to get a job, to find housing, a convicted felon," Dixon asked.
In an effort to develop a youth violence reduction strategy, attendees split up into groups and focused on the real issues facing today's youth. The conversation turned into ideas of how to help.
"We want the youth to understand there are resources out there for them. We don't always have to turn to the life of crime, the life of drugs, life of guns that are taking our kids away," said Davis.
In 2015, 12 teens between the ages of 14 and 18 lost their lives to gun violence.
"It's kids killing kids," Davis said.
It's a number the group has been determined to change.
The feedback taken from these summits will help enact programs and policies to curb youth violence. The next summit has been scheduled to take place Saturday, February 27 and will focus on "setting the foundations for success."
