BALTIMORE — As a commitment to end gun violence in Baltimore City and turn lives around, the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement has been proactive in lending a hand to communities in need.
Justin Wilkes says thanks to MONSE, his life is now on the straight and narrow path.
It was a police-involved shooting left a man dead on Wilkens Avenue in southwest Baltimore that changed his entire outlook on life.
After that tragic event, in his neighborhood, he reached out to MONSE for help. He is now living what he calls the life he always wanted.
"We need to get the guns off the streets. I don't want killings going on. I don't want my kids to feel unsafe out here, myself unsafe, walking the streets, playing around whatever," says Wilkes.
The shooting shook up the neighborhood and Wilkes.
MONSE responded going door to door, stoop to stoop and hand delivering a letter to people living in the area. It showed them help is here.
Wilkes jumped at the opportunity.
"I just want to be able to live comfortably. If we can't live comfortably then nobody wants to live in a place where they can't live comfortably," says Wilkes.
"I was about to go back to hustling cause I wasn't working. It was hard for me to get a job. I was about to give up and go back to something I knew," says Wilkes.
Somewhere in that letter he read, he felt the need to give himself a chance at a better life.
"Sometimes you do need to take that step forward yourself, but if you don't take that step forward, the help that's being given won't be given to you," says Wilkes.
He explained to MONSE he needed to find work and improve other areas in his life. Laneese Brown worked directly with him. She says in her role, it's important to do a thorough background check.
"They don't call us a lot. Because I guess people are so used to being let down when they're reaching out for services and resources that they just look at this like it's junk mail," says Brown who works with MONSE.
Wilkes now has a stable job, can provide for his family and pay his bills.
"He said he built his confidence. I allowed him to feel like he could do anything," says Brown.
That's all Wilkes ever wanted.
"The moment I left it and I had chose that new light, that new path, I ain't gonna lie man I'm happy. I can say that with a big smile on my face," says Wilkes.
Wilkes came forward and spoke because he wants people to know help is out there if you need it. He's living a much happier life. He's working a good job, able to be there for his kids. He bragged about how much MONSE has helped change his life. He says it can do the same to anyone who reaches out and takes it seriously.