The Trenton Times published the following article on September 2, 2013. To read the full article, click here.

Conditions in Trenton housing development set one man on a mission to combat gangs’ influence

By Jenna Pizzi/The Times of Trenton 
on September 02, 2013 at 6:30 AM

TRENTON — When Kenny Williams first started coming to Donnelly Homes eight years ago, it was like a prison, on lockdown with police security.

In 2005, when gang violence ravaged the city, the public housing development in the
North Ward was the site of much illicit activity. However, Williams found his way there every afternoon after he left his job at the state Department of Labor to visit his sister and nephew, who lived in Donnelly Homes. The 55-year-old Williams, who grew up in Trenton, said he saw everything going on, from people dealing drugs and weapons to shootings and children as young as 10 walking around with guns.

From there, he developed close ties with the community, especially the teenage boys, and he sought to find other ways he might be able to teach them. Williams, whose own children grew up playing basketball, thought he might hold a basketball clinic for the gang members in the gym at Donnelly Homes.

Williams created a nonprofit called Urban Warfare and got the okay from the city to use the facility on Fridays for his programs.

He asked the guys in the neighborhood to spread the word that he only wanted gang members to come for the first night. He wanted to bring the community together with healthy activity, and he decided that meant gang members, too.

“My whole logic is that they can build Trenton back up,” he said. “If I can get those boys off the corner and start building these houses back up, they would think before tearing them down. They would believe in their city.”

Contact Jenna Pizzi at jpizzi@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5717.