"To live better:" Shooting death of his nephew inspired man to work towards better inner-city neighborhoods

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- There have been 28 homicides in Milwaukee in the first three months of 2015. Many in Milwaukee are simply tired of all the violence, and there's a new grassroots effort aimed at improving the lives of those growing up in parts of Milwaukee's central city.

Shawn Moore says he has lived in Milwaukee's Garden Homes Park neighborhood for years, and while he once played in the park, he says safety concerns have him keeping his kids in his backyard.

There's a group that's hoping to change that with their new "Safe Zones Initiative."

Shawn Moore's nephew Marvin Cottrell Jr. was murdered on Teutonia Avenue at 3:00 a.m. at the young age of 16. His death prompted a party in the park.

"1,100 people. No problems. And we knew then that it could be done," Moore said.

Moore says the peaceful gathering propelled him to do his part to put an end to the problems plaguing certain areas in Milwaukee.

"We want a good life. We want nice homes, a great education for our kids," Moore said.

It is with this motivation that Moore and a growing number of Milwaukee's residents are participating in what's known as the "Safe Zone Initiative."

"It could look a whole lot better if we just took a greater emphasis on just litter and and garbage that`s floating around," Milwaukee Alderman Ashanti Hamilton said.

Alderman Hamilton describes "safe zones" as small areas, as in several blocks of larger neighborhoods such as the Garden Homes area and Milwaukee's Harambee neighborhood -- where residents are intensely focused on improving public safety, education, economic development and health.

"Take a look at the abandoned houses that are concentrated in this one community, and then you wonder why the children who walk through this environment have the type of mindset that they have about life," Alderman Hamilton said.

The "Safe Zones Initiative" is set to start next month in Garden Homes Park.

"We going in there to not just speak for them, but to build up they voice so they can speak for they selves, and so they can begin to make the everyday differences that they need to make in they community -- to live better," community activist Khalil Coleman with Project: Occupy, Restore and Return said.

Coleman is also what's known as a HOOD Ambassador. HOOD stands for "Help Others Obtain Direction."