One common message was made loud and clear throughout the room at the State of North Omaha meeting. "We embarked on a historic chance of trying to create a coordinated plan to make sure our people came together," said Sen. Justin Wayne, serving District 13. Starting with decreasing the amount of violence within the community. "2023 being a year where we really piece everything back together and go back down to those 40-year lows," said Omaha Police Department Chief Todd Schmaderer. And the increasing number of guns entering North Omaha. "This is during the course of illegal activity that the police department has seized these weapons. And you look in 2008, and then you look at 2022. And then that's obviously a concern," said Schmaderer. While the focus is reducing crime within the area, the interest in gangs is still peaking. Attracting a younger crowd and highlighting the need for juvenile rehabilitation. "They're trading in the basketball for guns. The OG nowadays is maybe a teenager. Maybe a 21-year-old," said Latron Louise working on street outreach. But trending in the right direction is the growth of North Omaha. Starting with housing and bumping families up economically. "We raised 31% above the poverty level, and 34% are now contributing over $2 million to their retirement savings programs," said the CEO of Family Advisory Housing Services, Teresa Hunter. Addressing the need for shelter so the outcry for mental help can be heard while building up the businesses and the developments within the area using a huge economic boost. "There was $3.2 billion in needs. We had $225 to give out; that's a big discrepancy. But we're going in, and we're asking for another $200 million. Maybe we get it. Maybe we don't. What I do know right now is based off of the governor's budget, we have an extra about $2.3 billion," said Sen. Wayne.