DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - Gun violence does not discriminate. While grieving, families of gun violence victims find comfort with each other.

Pain 2 Peace, an organization that advocates to end gun violence, gathered the families together for a vigil.  They met at Decatur Central Park, where families set posters of their loved ones. 

The grieving process is not a short and narrow road from A to B. Gloria Wilkes knows the feeling all too well. Her son, Ralph, was shot and killed in 1994. 

"It's so hard for me, it's really hard," Wilkes said. "And everybody loved him. He loved to eat, but he was a happy-go-lucky person." 

Wilkes is not alone. She and the families who attended the vigil believe the recent shootings are getting out of hand.

They shared with WAND News how children don't feel safe playing outside. One even expressed how stray bullets would hit their house. Lamontriana Turner's uncle was shot and killed. 

"When you go places and you're scared anybody can have a gun on them," Turner said. 

Through the pain and frustration is their perseverance and motivation to save lives. Vivian Penermon's son, Corey Laster, would have been 34 this year. He was killed in September of 2019. Since then, Penermon has been an advocate to end gun violence. 

"I see a lot of young men and I tell them 'you matter,'" Penermon said. "If it's just a couple of words you can instill in one of these young men's ear is that you matter." 

While they push to save lives, families hold on to hope that one day, people will put the guns down, kids can be safe outside and another family won't have to grieve loss the way they did.Â