East Palo Alto festival celebrates 2023, a year of no homicides

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Lisa Patton grew up in East Palo Alto in the ’90s when it was labeled the “murder capital of the world.” 

She moved away years ago, but came back to attend Ignite Peace Pray EPA, a free festival at Cesar Chavez Ravenswood Middle School on Saturday.. 

It was important to her that her children learn about the community she grew up in, she said, waiting outside of a pirate ship carnival ride with her sister. 

“We never had anything like this when I was a kid,” she said, smiling. “It’s a breath of fresh air.” 

Over a thousand people attended the second-ever Ignite Peace Pray EPA, a free festival hosted by the East Palo Alto faith community on Saturday to promote togetherness and violence prevention. 

From 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. families, church leaders and neighbors gathered at the middle school to eat, dance and learn about local organizations. Jumpers, carnival rides and face painting booths dotted the field and local artists performed music on a stage. 

The event also included multiple raffles, giving away multiple bikes, massage guns, blow-up mattresses and other gifts to community members for free. 

The East Palo Alto faith community, which is a group of local churches from different denominations that banded together to make positive change in the city, began hosting the event in 2022 in an effort to unite the community. 

“It’s about bringing people together and expressing love, expressing peace, so that others can see and have hope that our community does not have to tolerate gun violence,” said Paul Bains, a pastor at Saint Samuel Church, who helped organize the event. 

But this year’s event was particularly special because it celebrated 2023, a year in East Palo Alto with zero homicides. 

“The chief of police called me one minute past midnight this year, and he said ‘We did, we had zero homicides for 2023, the whole year,’” Bains said. “And I just fell back in my chair. I actually started crying.” 

For years, Bains and the rest of the East Palo Alto faith community have worked with the police department to connect people with job opportunities and resources in an effort to prevent violence. Moving forward, Bains said he hopes to focus more on celebration and helping children live without fear. 

“It’s not a police department accomplishment, it’s a community accomplishment,” said East Palo Alto Chief of Police Jeff Liu. 

This year, there have been two homicides in the city, and Liu says the police department is looking for new ways to communicate with the public and collaborate with local organizations. 

Jenn Greely, director of operations for Hope Horizons, a nonprofit that sets out to empower local youth through spirituality, was representing one of the many organizations tabling at the festival. 

She was born the year East Palo Alto was deemed a murder capital, and Hope Horizons, under its former name Bayshore Christian Ministries, played a crucial role in her wellbeing, she said. 

It was a safe space for her, so when she grew up, she came back to work there.

“Being able to see our kids in a safe space at the festival today just makes my soul feel very fulfilled,” she said.

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