Our partners are building the relationships and community networks that act as protective factors against violence for both victims and perpetrators.

Nearly 20 years ago, Michael Reese made a grant to a young, physician-led organization that hoped to prevent the spread of violence by using disease control methods: interrupt transmission, identify and treat high-risk individuals, and change social norms. Seven years later, a U.S. Department of Justice study confirmed that the approach worked. That organization, now known as Cure Violence, had achieved a 16 to 28 percent decline in the number of shootings in four of the seven communities in which it operated.

Today, we continue to support partners that use evidence-based treatments to prevent community violence, and with good reason. Violence is a public health issue. It causes death, disease, and incalculable human suffering, at an estimated cost of 3.3 percent of U.S. GDP each year. In Illinois, that translates to more than $27 billion in 2017 alone.

Our hospital-based violence prevention initiatives currently support responders or violence recovery staff at six area hospitals, all of which are Level I trauma centers. One of those trauma centers, at University of Chicago Medicine, sees the highest rate of community violence cases in the country. 

“You could be taking your garbage out right now, but if you got tattoos and if you get shot, the perception is you’re a bad person.”

Read an interview with responders

In addition to supporting hospital-based programs, we continue to support community and street-outreach prevention initiatives. We participate in the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities, a 35-member funders’ collaborative, and we support Communities Partnering for Peace (CP4P), a collaborative of street-outreach organizations in nine communities deeply affected by gun violence. 

Like hospital-based interventions, CP4P’s work is hyperlocal. Outreach workers are members of the communities they serve. When they hear of a threat of violence, they intervene to deescalate tensions and offer alternatives. Aided by community-specific data aggregated weekly from city ShotSpotter sensors and incident reports, CP4P workers identify high-risk individuals—including those returning to the community after incarceration—and work to mitigate that risk. Depending on needs, they can connect individuals to family support services, case management, legal services, mental health and substance abuse counseling, and employment and job training. Outreach workers themselves receive training: Metropolitan Peace Academy, which teaches nonviolence best practices and evidence-based interventions such as trauma-informed care and restorative justice, is part of CP4P.

Beyond providing services to individuals and families, CP4P partner organizations work to create safe public spaces for everyone. At local parks, gyms, and schools, a regular program of social and recreational activities called Light in the Night draws hundreds of participants. In neighborhoods where it’s dangerous to sit on the front porch, creating shared, safe space is an important first step to resetting expectations and, ultimately, community norms.