“A neighborhood should be a safe haven for children to play in,” said Mayor Anthony Staffieri Saturday when he joined a prayer march organized by a downtown church to raise awareness and ask for God’s help for Anson Street in Derby.
“The neighborhood we will walk to today and pray for its safety is my old neighborhood,” said the mayor, who remembered growing up there decades ago as a young immigrant boy from Italy.
He spoke at Derby Green where the marchers gathered to sing praise songs and pray. “With Christ’s love may we all live in peace.”
The “Walk in Faith” march was the second one organized by Iglesia Cristiana Renacer En Cristo (Reborn in Christ Christian Church), headquartered a block from the Green in the basement of a shopping center.
Outreach Director Dennis Marroquin led the march in the absence of Pastor Daniel Rodriguez, who was unable to attend because of health problems.
Last year the march was held on a cool evening in October. Marroquin said the event this year was scheduled for a warmer date.
Staffieri told the Valley Independent Sentinel that the march was intended to show the people of the Anson Street neighborhood that someone cared about them.
The area has been plagued by crime and violence in recent years, but the mayor said Derby police have made some key arrests and he believes the situation is moving in a positive direction.
The Rev. Robert Hemingway, executive director of Uttermost Community Outreach, formed by a coalition of about 30 churches around the state, supported the march by bringing churchgoers from the New Haven area to join the march.
About 60 marchers left the Green at around 2 p.m. and walked up Fifth Street to Anson where they stopped it in an alley for more prayer and praise music.
Hemingway asked the participants to join a prayer circle and called on God to touch their hearts.
“Come on, say Hallelujah. The Devil is defeated,” Hemingway prayed. “Amen.”
