Calvetta Berry

A Purposeful Life

Calvetta Berry/Photo Credit: JeRae Coleman

Calvetta Berry has been speaking up for a decade. Hers is an insistent voice that speaks from lived experience.

After losing a close friend to gun violence, she was heartbroken and took action.

In 2013, she founded Mothers Against Violence or MAV to advocate against gun violence.

“God gave me a purpose, and it’s MAV,” she tells me as we chatted on a Zoom call last week.

But she’s also found another purpose and that’s working with Creative Visions.

When I ask her about her new role at Creative Visions, she describes it like this: “I’m a Violence Interrupter. We go out and canvas the neighborhoods around Creative Visions. We go out and talk to the kids. We also stop and talk with adults in the neighborhood to see what’s going on.”

Berry is describing the Violence Interruption Program at Creative Visions, which targets youth ages 14-25 who live near Evelyn K. Davis Park and the Drake neighborhood. The programs main purpose is to give youth and communities behavioral tools to lessen conflict that may lead to violence. It also relies on strong collaborative relationships to get the work done.

“This is my way of continuing my activism. I have the backing of Creative Visions, and I am doing my part.”

Doing her part as a violence interrupter also means attending neighborhood association meetings, working with the schools and various community groups, and working directly with youth. She’s been especially active in community talks and youth town halls.

“At Creative Visions, we’ve been attending a lot of meetings due to the recent school shootings.”

She says working directly with youth is the most critical part of her job, and Wednesdays are special days.

“On Wednesdays, we go to Meyer Hall. With my group, we play games and talk. I have a list of questions that we go through. The kids appreciate it. I get so much out of it. This work makes me feel good.”

Creative Visions was founded in 1996 by Ako Abdul Samad. Aaccording to the Creative Visions website, the organization has “enabled thousands of individuals to build stronger lives, stronger families, and stronger communities through its core program of services, which focuses on self, family, and community betterment.”

For more information about the the Violence Interruption Program at Creative Visions, contact 515-244-4003.

---

I’m honored to be a member of the Iowa Writers Collaborative. Please explore and subscribe to other writers in the group.

Laura Belin: Iowa Politics with Laura Belin, Windsor Heights

Doug Burns: The Iowa Mercury, Carroll

Dave Busiek: Dave Busiek on Media, Des Moines

Art Cullen: Art Cullen’s Notebook, Storm Lake

Suzanna de Baca Dispatches from the Heartland, Huxley

Debra Engle: A Whole New World, Madison County

Julie Gammack: Julie Gammack’s Iowa Potluck, Des Moines and Okoboji

Joe Geha: Fern and Joe, Ames

Jody Gifford: Benign Inspiration, West Des Moines

Nik Heftman: The Seven Times, Los Angeles and Iowa

Beth Hoffman: In the Dirt, Lovilla

Dana James: New Black Iowa, Des Moines

Pat Kinney: View from Cedar Valley, Waterloo

Fern Kupfer: Fern and Joe, Ames

Robert Leonard: Deep Midwest: Politics and Culture, Bussey

Tar Macias: Hola Iowa, Iowa

Kurt Meyer, Showing Up, St. Ansgar

Wini Moranville, Wini’s Food Stories, Des Moines

Kyle Munson, Kyle Munson’s Main Street, Des Moines

Jane Nguyen, The Asian Iowan, West Des Moines

John Naughton: My Life, in Color, Des Moines

Chuck Offenburger: Iowa Boy Chuck Offenburger, Jefferson and Des Moines

Barry Piatt: Piatt on Politic Behind the Curtain, Washington, D.C.

Macey Spensley: The Midwest Creative, Iowa

Larry Stone: Listening to the Land, Elkader

Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Buggy Land, Kalona

Mary Swander: Mary Swander’s Emerging Voices, Kalona

Cheryl Tevis: Unfinished Business, Boone County

Ed Tibbetts: Along the Mississippi, Davenport

Teresa Zilk: Talking Good, Des Moines