MEMPHIS, Tenn. — For a growing number of parents in Memphis, losing your child to violence is a reality they know all too well.
In order to help, a national nonprofit is providing resources and support in the city, so those parents don't have to grieve their loss alone.
According to the Memphis Data Hub, there were over 100 homicides in the first four months of this year. For dozens of families in Memphis, the homicide rate is more than just a number. Those are their loved ones whose lives were taken.
Parents of Murdered Children has stepped in to support families nationwide during those tough times since 1980. Now, the organization's only chapter in Tennessee, the Greater Memphis Chapter, is continuing that mission.
The goal is to give Memphis parents who lost a child to violence a network of support as they go through the grieving process.
The Greater Memphis chapter was created by Tim Williams, who lost the mother of his children in 1989. He created it after seeing Memphis basketball star Lorenzen Wright's mother, Deborah Marion, fight for justice for 12 years after her son’s murder.
"There was nobody here to really guide her, or there weren't many support groups to help her know what to do,” Williams said.
Along with a support system, Parents of Murdered Children also has a parole block program to help keep convicted murderers behind bars and second opinion services for concerns about death investigations, among other resources.
"Free to low-cost counseling, the Shelby County Crime Victims & Rape Crisis Center, I partner with them," Williams said. "They also liaise to help individuals get burial funds and also to get compensation for the loss of a loved one.”
The Greater Memphis Chapter of Parents of Murdered Children meets at 6 p.m. every third Thursday at the McFarland Community Center in Parkway Village.
There is a Central Arkansas Chapter of Parents of Murdered Children in Little Rock. Grieving north Mississippi families are welcome to join the Greater Memphis Chapter.