Donna Pearson-Simmons sits with her grandkids Emari (right), 3, and Keant’e, 7, whose mother, Erica Reed, was fatally shot in May 2023, during Chicago Survivors’ annual back-to-school block party outside City of Praise Church in Chicago Lawn, Friday, Aug. 2, 2024. They attended an announcement about the expansion of free grief counseling programs.