Why Should Delaware Care?
Laurel, a small town in western Sussex County, retains a disproportionately high violent crime rate compared to its small population. After the shooting of a local high schooler, a community group formed to make a change. More than three years later, with more donations and support, the group is still working to build a safer town.
Groups working to combat gun violence in the small, western Sussex County town of Laurel gathered last week with local leaders to unveil new beautification projects they hope will build community pride and push their work forward.
Organizers from Operation West Laurel gathered inside the Laurel Police Department headquarters on June 5. The group commemorated National Gun Violence Awareness Day by debuting the portraits of two Laurel high schoolers who were fatally shot in 2023 along with new community gardens.
The portraits memorialize Corey Mumford and Kylee Robinson – two 18-year-olds who were killed in the same year. Mumford’s death inspired Laurel High School teacher Amy Handy to start Operation West Laurel, an organization using prayer, trash pick up and after-school programs to combat violence.
Mumford and Robinson’s portraits will be displayed at Laurel High School, along with a memorial bench.
Following the portrait reveal, Handy cut the ribbon for two new community gardens: a flower bed outside city police headquarters and a nearby vegetable garden across the street from Mount Zion Church.
The portraits and community gardens represent Operation West Laurel’s ongoing community beautification work, one its many initiatives undertaken to mitigate violence in the town.
Those initiatives were bolstered last summer when it received a separate $93,000 grant from Healthy Communities Delaware. That grant was given in conjunction with Wilmington-based nonprofit End Community Violence Now, which has partnered with Operation West Laurel to extend its gun violence prevention work into southern Delaware.
The group also received a $50,000 grant from the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to fund community beautification projects.
Rising from the classroom
Along with community beautification, Operation West Laurel hosts youth programming in the hopes of deterring teens in the community from turning toward violence.
Two days out of the week, Handy and her team hold after-school sessions for high-risk high school boys called Project RISE.
Handy defines “at-risk,” as kids who struggle with grades and attendance. Through working with the City University of New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the group has further identified students who are at-risk of becoming victims or perpetrators of gun violence.
Last summer’s group included boys who were there when Mumford and Robinson were killed.
At these after-school sessions, students are met with music and offered a snack. They then participate in “restorative circles,” and rate their days on a scale of 1-10. Afterward, they review their grades and do schoolwork.
One of the students in the program, Woodley Dormevil, just graduated. Dormevil has known Handy since he was in seventh grade. Since leaving RISE, he has transitioned to helping out with some of the group’s community projects, like trash pick-ups.
Dormevil said more people have come out to help Operation West Laurel since he started. He hopes Handy’s after-school program continues to grow and get more kids involved in the community.
This year, Operation West Laurel started offering workforce training once a week, including resume building and interview skills to the students at the after-school program.
Handy said that she has seen a decline in community violence since starting her work. The Laurel Police Department did not respond to requests for the town’s most recent shooting data.
According to news reports, there have been at least three shootings in Laurel in the last 12 months, none of which have resulted in a death. One incident in April involved a 16-year-old who fired a 3D-printed “ghost gun.”
Beyond the data, though, Handy said at-risk students have gained self-confidence and support from the after-school program.
“They feel like people are listening to them,” Handy said.
Pivoting toward in-state support
Since partnering with Operation West Laurel, the executive director of End Community Violence Now said the Sussex County town has gained more attention from philanthropic partners, the news, and elected officials. House Minority Leader Rep. Tim Dukes (R-Laurel) and Sen. Bryant Richardson (R-Seaford) both spoke at the gun violence press conference last week.
“It’s really showed that it’s a bipartisan issue,” said Lauren Footman, the executive director.
Footman is using this traction to urge lawmakers to fund Gov. Matt Meyer’s proposed Office of Gun Violence and Community Safety. First introduced last May as an executive order, House Bill 369 would codify and secure funding for the office. The bill has passed the House and is currently awaiting consideration by the Senate.
Due to the changing landscape of federal funding, Footman said that she is thinking strategically about how to leverage state support for gun violence prevention.
In April 2025, the Trump administration terminated hundreds of millions of dollars in existing violence prevention grants, an initiative launched by the Biden administration.
Then in September, the administration changed the grant’s requirements, preventing community-based organizations like End Community Violence Now from receiving funding.
“We are exhausting all options of working with the federal delegation,” Footman said.
Growing together
The joint grant that Operation West Laurel and End Community Violence Now received last summer has helped the groups to work toward curbing crime through environmental design, mainly through community gardens and clean-up initiatives.
“I think it is really starting to show in the community – things are starting to look better,” Dormevil said.
Footman said the gardens serve many purposes. In addition to feeding families in need, they also serve as an opportunity to engage at-risk youth who tend to the gardens.
She described the gardens as an “intergenerational opportunity,” bringing young and old residents together to co-create something for the community.
Footman said she also is thinking about gun violence prevention on the infrastructural level, including improving street lighting.
As for work on the streets, Operation West Laurel continues to do its prayer walks – one of the first group events Handy started shortly following Mumford’s death – every Thursday.
Sabrina Isler, an Operation West Laurel volunteer, said the following has grown. More kids and families expect to see the team and join in on the walks.
“We can’t control what people do, but at least they know someone is watching,” Isler said.
