"It's a holocaust for the children who live in the cities," says Lola Willis, a mother of four who refuses to sit by as children become perpetrators and victims of violence. Willis coordinates an extensive youth program for Augustana and Holy Trinity Lutheran churches and is among those leading the community to solutions.

The churches strive to provide "an alternative to the despair and fragmentation around them," says Ed Miller, pastor of Augustana, Willis' home church. And they'll do whatever it takes--from gospel music to gumball machines, from basketball leagues to before- and after-school care.

The payoff comes in seeing youth alive with excitement and hope.