DAVENPORT, Iowa — Local support group Family Resources brought people together in Davenport over the weekend to honor lives lost in homicides.
Rows of shirts on wooden posts were planted into the ground with names of victims written on each one at Centennial Park.
"Breasia was 10 years old," mother Aishia Lankford said. "It's crazy, I miss her a lot."
Lankford lost her daughter Breasia Terrell in July 2020. She was just one of several mothers at the ceremony.
"The Family Resources therapy - it helped my son with building fundamentals that he needed along the journey of just losing his sister," Lankford said. "He's also able to brush that off onto me and helped me in those areas."
Leaders from the support group and local churches spoke at the gathering.
The goal was not just to remember tragedy, but love.
"We think about the good times," Family Resources director of crisis resources Tee LeShoure said. "We love them. They're our loved ones. And we want to make sure that their memories are remembered."
The ceremony was an honor that served others.
"My community, the individuals that we're able to impact, the individuals that we are able to support, and then the lives that we are able to help move to another level or help heal. That has always been a passion of mine," LeShoure said.
Families said healing is tough, but the event was one way to cope.
"I'm trying to fulfill a lot of the spots that [Breasia] wasn't able to fulfill at just 10 but her smile, you know her laugh - that laugh was just everything for me," Lankford said.
Family Resources offers crisis response, medical and legal advocacy and various support groups.
This was the second year for the event by Family Resources.