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Organization brings together parents who lost children

Posted at 11:35 PM, Dec 19, 2021
and last updated 2021-12-20 00:58:06-05

HAMPTON ROADS, Va - A local organization is remembering kids lost to violence in Hampton Roads and bringing together parents who have had to endure losing a child.

Organizers Taneisha Graves and Latricia White say their mission is to let parents know they are not alone.

"People just don’t know, when you lose someone like that in a tragedy, gun violence it’s terrible," Teresa Andrews said, a mother who lost three of her sons to gun violence.

"My son killed his brother and took his own life that same week. It was terrible. I tell you," Andrews said.

Andrews wears these three necklaces to remember her sons.

Her son, Loren Javell Ransome died in a shooting at Jackpot Hookah in this year, the establishment he owned.

"Every morning, I wake up. It hits me," Andrews tells News 3's Leondra Head.

‘When the Trumpet Sounds’ organization says their mission is stand with parents during the difficult time.

"We want to them that regardless if your family and friends walk away, we are still here," Taneisha Graves said, the founder of When the Trumpet Sounds.

Parents who lost children this year were pampered – receiving haircuts, getting their hair done and receiving gifts.

Taneisha Graves son died from Epilepsy and says coming together with other parents is like therapy.

"We’re looking for our children, no matter what age they are, we’re looking for them to be right at the door or coming in and saying something silly," Graves said.

The organizers say they plan to have more opportunists for parents to come together.