He lost his legs in a shooting. Now, the Baltimore program that helped him faces Trump Administration cuts.

Marquis Milliner told WJZ that life will never be the same after he was a victim of Baltimore gun violence. 

"I got shot April 29 of last year. I didn't wake up until June 14," he told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren. 

Milliner, who recently turned 27, knows how lucky he is to celebrate that birthday. 

"It's a blessing to be here. They told my mother to cut off my legs," he said. "I had a 30% chance of living."

While he lost his legs and is learning to walk with prosthetics, Milliner never lost hope. 

He credits the lifelong friends he has made through Roca, the intensive anti-violence program he joined seven years ago after being incarcerated.

The Trump administration has warned that the program is at risk of losing grants through the Department of Justice.    

"This is something I've got to deal with the rest of my life," Milliner said of his injuries. "Sometimes you think, 'What if I wouldn't have gone to that store? This wouldn't have happened.' But who knows. I can't see the future to stop myself from doing things. All I can do is accept what I can accept now. Take the faith from people who are there for me and keep moving forward."

He sees Roca as part of his life's mission.

"I believe I'm here to speak to people just like me who've been through things like me," Milliner said.

Roca roundtable 

Milliner is one of several young men who say Roca changed their lives. 

Last year alone, the organization helped 451 people.

At a roundtable on Tuesday, some of them spoke candidly about challenges in Baltimore, even with the drop in violence in the city. 

"Half of the youth population doesn't want to carry guns. But certain stuff—depending on where you are or who you hang with—you are who you be around," said Damien Andrews, who grew up in East Baltimore near Johns Hopkins Hospital. 

"I was lost for a while. I started with this program, and I started gaining relationships." Andrews said. 

Andrews has been with Roca for six years. 

"I never thought I'd be up here speaking,"  said Vincent Ford, another Roca client. "Now, I'm a changed man. It made me a new person. This program is life-changing. It's the best thing that ever happened. They changed me into the man I am today."

"I was impulsive. A lot of the youth workers helped me find myself, find peace within myself," said Roca graduate Asa Cooper. 

Ted Koppel profiled Roca for CBS Sunday Morning in 2023. 

Hellgren first profiled Roca in 2017 when former Mayor Catherine Pugh announced it was expanding into Baltimore City.     

Roca works with other programs, including one that provides direct outreach in hospitals after people have been shot. 

"They make sure a secondary violent act doesn't occur. As we heard today, sometimes when there's a first, there's a retaliatory impact," said Phyllis Gray, from MedStar Health.

Dropping city violence

The city's non-fatal shootings are down 27% from 136 this time last year to 99 today.

Homicides have dropped 30%, from 56 to 39.

Rash of juvenile arrests

However, over the weekend, there were some troubling arrests involving juveniles ranging in age from 13 to 17 years old. 

From April 25th to April 27th, Baltimore police said they arrested 16 juveniles in various incidents citywide, including robbery, stolen autos, assaults, and handgun violations. 

• Of the 16 juveniles arrested, police said 11 had prior records.
• Two of them had been arrested more than nine times each. 
• Seven of the juveniles were released to their guardians. 
• Three of them were charged as adults. 

Mayor critical of federal cuts

Last week, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott slammed the Trump administration's cuts to anti-violence programs. 

He called them "reckless."

"For all their lip service about public safety, the Trump administration doesn't give a damn about it," Scott said in a statement to WJZ. "They said they support law enforcement, but they're defunding programs to support public safety officers and pardoned rioters. They say they care about victims of crime, yet they're choking off resources for them. This reckless decision could undermine our record reductions in homicides and non-fatal shootings. The administration must immediately reverse course and restore this funding. Anything less jeopardizes critically important work that is saving lives both here in Baltimore and across the country."    

Keeping hope 

Marquis Milliner remembers how persistent Roca was in reaching out to him. 

They knocked on his door, and he tried to run, but his sister let them in anyway. 

He eventually listened to the message. 

"They were here for me," Milliner said. "This is my family. When I don't have anyone to talk to, I come here. When I'm going through things, I come here."

Roca provides job training and assistance with obtaining high-school equivalency diplomas and teaches life skills. 

Now, Milliner is committed to helping Roca and others facing the same issues he has surrounding violence in his community. 

"So, I can teach and talk to them, and they can have somebody to vent to because you can't vent to nobody who hasn't been through what you've been through," Milliner said. "I can't change what happened to me. All I can do is move forward and do better."