NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Lil’ Mexico, as it is called, is located right behind a Tinee Giant supermarket near downtown Norfolk. Drugs and associated mental health problems abound. A fence serves as a makeshift cupboard. Broken glass and the lids of plastic drink containers form a kind of floor on top of the ground paved by the men and women walking up the stairs at the intersection of Chapel Street and Brambleton Avenue.
A man named Squeeze Cheese sits in an armchair, lamenting the arrival of winter, which will only worsen the sickle cell disease, which he says will leave him unable to work and care for his four young children.
Women, some with hair that has turned gray with age, walk briskly by while making conversation, while men, some on foot and some in wheelchairs and walkers, linger nearby for conversation and perhaps a drink.
Calvin Williams, 47, founder of the nonprofit My 2K Foundation, wears a reflective vest while chatting with the guys from Lil’ Mexico. From time to time he must disengage from discussions to calm the hostilities that may break out in the crowd. The key to calmness, Williams said, is finding common denominators in the crowd.
“We actually mediate and recognize who has problems with each other,” says Williams. “We find common denominators to actually transform the situation into a non-violent situation. And that keeps a lot of the violence within the community.”
Thirty-one years ago, Williams was the source of violence. In what was then a 7-Eleven store, a then 16-year-old Williams shot four other teenagers. Other crimes followed.
How much time has he spent behind bars?
“All in all, a prison sentence of perhaps 15 years,” Williams said.
Four years ago, Williams, known as KD, founded an outreach nonprofit called the My 2K Foundation with the help of his mother. A logo with a butterfly is Williams’ symbol for growth.
His mother, a graduate of Norfolk State University, said she cried every night her son was behind bars and prayed that two younger sons would get on the right track. Her prayer for the younger boys was answered, and Calvin is working to reclaim the community.
“I’m very proud of him,” said Williams’ mother, Bernadine Brown. “And I feel sorry for the mothers whose sons died as a result of the scourge of battles, because of the violence in these neighborhoods. And I thank God that when my son got out of prison, he still thought about being part of the solution, instead of being part of the problem.”
Solutions come with costs.
Williams is hosting a Trunk-or-Treat on Halloween night at Coleman Place Elementary School in Norfolk. He has received letters of support, but few contributions.
“We want to do whatever it takes,” Williams said. “… We work with the homeless. We eat here sometimes [the] homeless. We have programs, we do it. We work with anyone who is willing to work for the betterment of our community, [to] better our city, better our state, better our country.”
Contact Calvin Williams via email at Mijn2.Gevonden@gmail.com if you want to help reclaim the community. The annual Trunk or Treat will take place from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM on October 30 at Coleman Place Elementary School. It is open to the public.
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