KANSAS CITY, Mo — A teen who lost a brother to gun violence decided kids his age need a way to tell someone about trouble before it turns deadly.
Giulian Williams is 15-years-old and his instincts are to care about his friends, his classmates and even strangers.
“Honestly, I just thought of something to help the community because there’s a lot of violence,” Williams said. “There’s a lot of fights over dumb stuff.”
That's where the hotline is able help.
“Basically, I made a hotline, a conflict hotline, so you don’t have to call the police," Williams said. "If you hear something going on, you can call before something happens."
The KCMO City Council supported his proposal.
The hotline number, 816-799-1720, connects you to a call service.
It’s not 911 or the TIPS Hotline, but people trained to handle crisis intervention.
“I’m a proud dad,” said Toriano Porter, Giulian’s father.
Porter said teens need another way to ask for help.
“This whole no snitching thing is a big, big problem. It’s an issue,” Porter said. “So if kids call 911, that’s the police, they’ll feel like they are snitching. So if they can call this anonymous youth violence prevention hotline maybe they’ll save a life.”
Giulian and his dad suffered a devastating loss.
“My brother passed away from gun violence,” Williams said.
Toriano said his son, Toriano Porter II, was 16 years old and caught in a cycle of violence.
He died in 2009.
“I have a photo of them together and Lil T was holding him," Porter said. "That was one of my best days of my life.”
They both know there’s more good days to come and want people to know teens can step up and help find solutions to our city’s violence problem.
“After my son died, I didn’t know what I was going to do about it," Porter said. "So I decided to be a better father and a better man, but I didn’t do anything for the community as what Giulian did. And for him to take on this and make a presentation on the hotline, I’m so proud, I’m so proud."
Kansas City officials did not provide more information on the hotline or when it would be ready.
They said more information would be released to the media on February 5th.
