CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Maria Pike is one of the hundreds of mothers who marched through the streets of Chicago Saturday to mourn the loss of a child.
"My son went to a good school, he was a chef and also working full time at the time he was killed," she said.
That's why she works with organizations such as Moms Demand Action and Mothers for Peace -- to make her neighborhood safe.
She's also worked directly with Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot.
"I do feel like it has given us a glimmer of hope for the future like no other mayor has before," Pike said.
"Having people recognize that folks outside of their neighborhood know that they're alive, that they exist, that their lives truly have meaning -- not just to themselves and their families and their community, but the wider vision of Chicago. We have to be neighbors together," Lightfoot said.