Gregory Baldwin has a powerful testimony about faith, survival and second chances. Like so many Black boys growing up in Washington, D.C., Baldwin, 60, faced the harsh realities of gangs and gun violence that nearly ended his life before adulthood.
By the age of 25, Baldwin had been shot 10 times and stabbed eight times. It wasn’t until he lay on an operating table, staring at the possibility of imminent death, that he realized he had to choose between change and tragedy.
“I was pronounced dead to my family at the Washington Hospital Center. I know what it’s like for a mother to receive a message that she has lost a child. I’m that child. I was lost and now found. But God kept me, and now he’s using me,” Baldwin explained.
Turning Pain Into Purpose
Baldwin’s path of redemption became a mission. He witnessed too many friends and neighbors lost to the streets, but it was the cries of grieving mothers that affected him most.
“These mothers need to know someone cares about them,” Baldwin said. “We need to give them their flowers, especially on Mother’s Day, and help put a smile on their faces.”
To that end, Baldwin founded Helping Hands, Inc., an organization dedicated to addressing the devastating impact of gun violence and poverty in the D.C. region. On Saturday, the group hosted its 13th annual Mother’s Day Brunch at Matthews Memorial Baptist Church in Southeast Washington.
A Day of Reflection and Healing
Dozens of mothers from across the region, dressed in their finest, gathered for an elegant lunch served by Baldwin’s masonic brothers, who volunteer each year for this heartfelt cause. The room was filled with conversation, laughter, and moments of profound remembrance.
A letter from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser praised Baldwin and Helping Hands Inc. for his 13-year effort in supporting grieving mothers. Dr. Charlene Monk, host of a radio talk-show on WYCB-FM, delivered a keynote address, urging mothers to join forces and fight against gun violence.
Several mothers bravely stood to share the heartbreaking stories of children lost to gun violence — many cases still unsolved. Others lost children to the fentanyl epidemic in D.C.
Juanita Agnew, mother of Jayz Agnew, who was fatally shot while raking leaves in the front yard of his home in Prince George’s County, has turned her grief into activism. She has dedicated her home to serving seniors and established a youth prevention program to help stop gun violence before it starts.
“I’m doing this in honor of Jayz,” she told the Informer.
A Call to Action from Grieving Mothers
Tyrece McAlister, whose daughter Ayanna was killed at 18, offered a raw and urgent message to the crowd.
“I had no expectation that my 18-year-old college freshman would die on the streets of D.C.,” she said. “So I want to say to you mothers: if you are not working in the fight to end gun violence, we need you. If you don’t want to start an organization, join one. We need people who look like us, because white folks are going to save their kids — we have to save ours.”
