BATON ROUGE - Faith Hope and Love Worship Center in Baton Rouge partnered with city leaders to offer a time of healing to the families of those slain by gun violence.

Both Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome and Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul were in attendance.

"Based on the pandemic itself and these individuals that have lost a loved one through violence realize that grief is a journey process. Society has just kind of put a band-aid on grief," said Pastor Ronald Hardy Sr.

Violence in the Capital City hasn't let up. The coroner reports that there were at least 19 homicides in the parish last month.

Those statistics make January 2021 the deadliest month on record in East Baton Rouge.

"I've always said one homicide in our city is far too many homicides. That's why we're going to start working with our city and the community to see how we can begin preventing homicides," said Chief Murphy Paul.

Alongside the violence, families in attendance were also dealing with losing loved ones to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.

"My wife passed away last year from COVID, and it allowed me to understand that there are different levels of grief," said Hardy.

Today's workshop, led by the church's pastor, taught the community about the different stages of grief and healing.

Participants received the opportunity to gain knowledge, skills, and resources to help them navigate the grieving process.