GROUP PRAYS FOR VIOLENCE, CRIME TO END

DURHAM -- Thirty-seven-year-old Lorna Riou has seen children in her
neighborhood gunned down and watched as her streets slowly turned into
a haven for drug dealers.

For the past 11 years, she has lived in the McDougald Terrace public
housing complex in Durham and has witnessed enough violence to last
her a lifetime.

"My next-door neighbor was shot in the leg just two weeks ago," she
said. "Someone was shooting someone else and hit her. About a year
ago, a girlfriend of mine, her son . was shot and another kid was
killed. We saw the gunplay, and we saw them fall because they were
running and shooting. It's not just one isolated incident; it's
continuing."

Police and Durham Housing Authority officials say safety in McDougald
Terrace has improved.

But Riou says more needs to be done. A month ago, she and a small
group of neighbors met in her home. They came up with the idea for a
prayer service and took it to the tenants' council meeting.

Today, the prayer service will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. at the
complex's community center at the corner of Sima and Lawson streets.

The event was organized with the help of David Winer, executive
director of Durham Congregations in Action, and Marcia Owen, outreach
coordinator for the Religious Coalition for a Non-Violent Durham.

Winer plans to have four leaders from nearby churches attend. They
will pray over residents and talk to people on street corners.

"The idea is to get the people in the community [to come] out . and
prayer is one way to do that," he said. "We'd really like to help them
become a power to stop crime."

The event will begin with performances from the Housing Authority
choir, Visions, and later three hearses will file through the streets.

The goal, Riou said, is to send a clear message that the violence has
to end. She contacted three local funeral homes and said they were all
willing to participate.

"My prayer is that it makes a true statement," she said. "It gives you
a shocking reality because there have been so many deaths in this
neighborhood."

But Officer Steve Hall, one of two officers stationed at McDougald,
said crime has reduced significantly. Most of the complaints he
receives has gone from shooting and drug dealing to
trespassing.

"There was about five or six shootings in the summer two years ago,"
he said. "Ever since then it's gotten better and better."

Michael Alston, the complex's manager, said he has seen the community
change for the better.

"It's nowhere as bad as it used to be in the past," he said. "If you
think about it, you haven't heard much about McDougald Terrace [in the
news.]"

While the police presence has been effective, Riou said she feels more
needs to be done.

"You'd have to be blind not to see the drugs being sold in this
neighborhood, and I'm not the only one that's concerned about it," she
said. "Things are not as frequent as they once were, but they still
occur. We're trying to help our neighborhood help our police officers
to help make crime completely diminished. There's only two of them and
there's 385 of us."

Deborah Carver, who attended the meeting, said the prayer service is
just the beginning.

"I think we're trying to let [criminals] know that we want our
community back," she said. "We're trying to do it like an ongoing
thing, where we try to get out once a month and do something
concerning that."

Owen agreed with Carver and said that consistency is the
key.

"I think this march, if it continues, if it becomes a regular presence
in the community, will absolutely lend itself to peace and prosperity
in that neighborhood," she said.

Riou also has faith that over time the prayer service will begin to
make a difference.

"We can take this and take steps," she said. "Nothing is accomplished
overnight."