HARTFORD — Mothers United Against Violence, an anti-gun violence group developed on the city's streets, has been named Connecticut's sole recipient this year of a federal grant from the Department of Justice.

The group, organized 12 years ago, has been given a $4,744 grant from the Department of Justice's Office of Victims of Crime, according to Steve Derene, the executive director of the National Association of VOCA Assistance Administrators, the group distributing the funds.

Henrietta Beckman, president of Mothers United Against Violence, said during an event at St. Francis Hospital Saturday that the group "is not an organization you join by choice."

"I became president because my son Randy was shot in 2002," Beckman said, her voice trembling. "The pain of losing your child at a young age never leaves you," she said.

U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy were featured speakers at Saturday's event to honor the work of the group and to bring attention to National Crime Victims' Rights Week, which began Friday.

"If moms can't stop gun violence, who can?" said Blumenthal. "They are the ones who will lead the way to stopping this epidemic.

"No place in this city, this state or this nation is safe from gun violence," Blumenthal said.

Murphy said 80 Americans die every day from guns, and studies show that every gun death causes trauma and suffering in an estimated 20 relatives and community members. Murphy warned that such trauma can include anger and "often leads to waves and cycles of violence that are hard to stop."

The failure of Congress to enact tough national gun control laws has made it "complicit in these murders," Murphy said. "This status quo of inaction is unacceptable."

Pastor Samuel R. Saylor Sr., vice president of the National Gun Victims Action Council, said the grant money will be used to help cover pre-event publicity and other expenses related to Mothers United Against Violence's eighth annual march and memorial rally scheduled for Saturday, April 16, in Hartford.

The march will begin at the intersection of Main Street and Albany Avenue and end at city hall. Marchers are asked to gather at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, and the march is expected to start at 10 a.m. Saylor said marchers will carry crosses bearing the names of those killed in Hartford since the group started its work.

Derene said Mothers United was one of 81 agencies to the receive the grants in honor of National Crime Victims' Rights Week, observed April 10-16.

The grants are intended to "promote services available to the victims of violent crime," he added.

"Being considered worthy to be the host for this area was an honor for us, and it shows we're going in the right direction with the work we do," Saylor said. "It inspires us to double up our efforts and think outside the box about how to restore hope in our city."

Saylor called the grant a "feather in our cap," especially in light of the competition for it: Mothers United was one of 250 organizations nationwide that applied for a piece of the federal fund.

The group's mission to shed light on the impact violence has on the city through vigils for crime victims is in line with what the Department of Justice is hoping to achieve, he said.

"If we want to restore hope, we still need to work together and be more aggressive," Saylor said.