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Community Rallies for Peace After School Worker Shot in Bed-Stuy Crossfire

 P.S. 81 parent coordinator Judith Daniels organized a prayer rally against gun violence Tuesday after being shot a block away from the school on Oct. 1, 2014.
Bed-Stuy Anti-Gun Violence Prayer Rally
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BEDFORD-STUYVESANT — Judith Daniels joined students and school workers to call for an end to gun violence, months after she was shot near the Eleanor Roosevelt Houses.

Daniels, a parent coordinator at P.S. 81 on DeKalb Avenue, hosted a prayer rally across from the elementary school Tuesday to draw attention to unsafe environments for neighborhood children.

The 61-year-old was shot three times in the leg on Oct. 1, 2014 while escorting parents down the block from the school.

A man and a 16-year-old were also injured in the incident, and a 25-year-old Baltimore man was arrested in connection to the shooting.

“I’m not great on my own for being here. Everyone who has supported me and helped me throughout this is greater,” Daniels said. “Whatever changes we demand and want is all for the children.”

The 11-year parent coordinator returned to work in March, greeted by a bulletin board of drawings and cards from students.

On Tuesday, posters drawn by P.S. 81’s youngsters decorated the courtyard fences and posts, calling for love and awareness.  

A school choir sang songs including Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” and steppers from M.S. 385 performed, chanting, “Don’t shoot, just listen.”

“It is uncalled for to have to go to and from work in fear,” said Shaun D. Francois I., president of union Local 372.

“We have to take it back to how it used to be when the community used to raise a child," he said. "Let’s bring community involvement back. Let’s bring the quality of life back.”

Union representatives supported Daniels during her recovery and applauded the parent coordinator for receiving her Master’s in School Guidance and Counseling months after the incident.

Daniels helped bring clergy, the 81st Precinct Community Council, and community organizations together Tuesday to reach out to youth. SCO Family of Services offered internship and job training opportunities, while other groups provided safety kits for children.

“Ms. Daniels is not a quitter, she’s a fighter,” said P.S. 81 volunteer Regina Leach-Curtis.

“But when the shooting happened, in her absence, it was very disheartening and sad. We wondered what we were going to do because things could have been worse, this is like every summer.”

Organizers recalled a rash of recent shootings that seriously injured innocent bystanders, several of which were young children.

In 2012, two stray bullets hit a 3-year-old boy playing by the Roosevelt Houses. A 2013 shooting paralyzed an 11-year-old girl outside her Gates Avenue home.

Residents and attendees said they hoped drawing attention to the issue would show children the impact of gun violence and its alternatives.

“This prayer rally is more than a one-time event,” Daniels said. “It is a vision that will bring change with lasting effects to the Bedford-Stuyvesant community.”