A prayer for peace

Still stunned by last week's shooting of one of their own on a street in Fairmount, home-health-care workers yesterday started gathering a regional coalition to work for an end to an epidemic of gun violence.

About 100 people, organized by workers of Keystone Hospice and Keystone Home Health, rallied for about an hour at the Convention Center before walking three blocks to Dilworth Plaza west of City Hall.

Chanting "No more violence," each marcher carried a tombstone-shaped placard bearing the name of one of the 298 Philadelphians slain this year through 11:59 p.m. Monday.

After reading the victim's name, the marchers placed the placards on the ground and gathered for prayer.

Gail Inderwies, a registered nurse and executive director of Keystone Hospice, the agency for which shooting victim Esther Schultz worked as a therapist and counselor, said, "We talk about doing stuff, we start initiatives, but we take it no further. You know, when Esther got shot the other day, it was, 'Enough is enough already,' and our agency said, 'You know we have to do something.' "

That something, Inderwies said, is the Coalition for Safer Streets, a union of public health organizations, residents, politicians and community groups that will work to encourage respect for life and push for legislation to counter some factors in violent crime, including the easy availability of firearms.

Inderwies announced that Keystone Hospice had contributed an initial grant of $2,500 to help the coalition get started and hoped that others would match it.

Before the group even left the Convention Center, Keystone's seed money was doubled with a $5,000 contribution from Health Partners, a Philadelphia health plan.

"It's the least we can do," said William S. George, president of Health Partners, which serves the region's medical-assistance population. "We need more businesspeople to step up to the plate. We need more businesspeople to get involved."

Also supporting the coalition were representatives of the Pennsylvania Homecare Association and the National Association for Home Care and Hospice in Washington.

The rally, spurred by an assault in one of Center City's safer neighborhoods, drew people from the region who said gun violence is more than just an urban problem.

Among those taking part were Peter Amuso, a Springfield Township school board member and the Democratic candidate for Montgomery County district attorney; State Rep. W. Curtis Thomas, a North Philadelphia Democrat; and Phil Goldsmith, Philadelphia's former managing director and the president of CeaseFire PA, a group seeking to reduce gun violence.

Amuso reminded the group that in December a student took a gun into Springfield High School and killed himself. "The city and the suburbs are not separated, they are connected," Amuso said. "Nowhere is that more true than in the issue of gun violence."

Inderwies said home-health workers were especially vulnerable to violence because their clients often live in the poorest - and most violence-prone - neighborhoods.

In June, a visiting nurse was assaulted and robbed in North Philadelphia in the middle of a weekday afternoon while going to visit a patient. The assailant demanded her wallet, police said at the time, and, when she said she didn't have one, punched her in the face until she lost consciousness before stealing her medical bag.

That is why many of those present yesterday were doubly shocked by Thursday's shooting. Of 298 homicides this year in Philadelphia, just three were in Center City or adjacent neighborhoods.

According to accounts from police and Inderwies, Schultz, 25, was returning home after a bereavement-counseling session. She had parked her car in the 800 block of North 24th Street and was talking to her mother on a cell phone when she was was grabbed from behind by an armed robber who demanded her purse.

When she resisted, she was pistol-whipped and knocked to the ground. At that point, the assailant was trying to get into a waiting vehicle when the driver said, "Shoot the bitch."

Schultz was shot in the shoulder and rushed to Hahnemann University Hospital. She was released Friday. A witness jotted down the license plate number as the robbers fled, and yesterday police said two people had been arrested.

Akeim Bullock, 35, was identified as the gunman and Teakesha Jones, 36, was identified as the woman in the car. Authorities said they believed Bullock and Jones live in the 1600 block of Marston Street. They were charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, robbery, firearms violations and related offenses.

"Now the violence has affected health care," Inderwies said. "Somebody messed with one of our staff. What's worse is that her mother heard it all on a cell phone as somebody said, 'Shoot the bitch.' "