Press Releases
10/25/2024
Commission on Community Gun Violence Intervention and Prevention awards grants to local violence prevention and intervention programs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 25, 2024
CONTACT: Chris Boyle, Director of Communications
(860) 706-9654 – christopher.boyle@ct.gov
HARTFORD, Conn.—The Connecticut Department of Public Health’s (DPH) Office of Firearm Injury Prevention has announced its second series of grant awards to 10 organizations throughout the state. These funds are being distributed with guidance from the Commission of Community Gun Violence Intervention and Prevention.
The Commission on Community Gun Violence Intervention and Prevention was established through Public Act 22-118 to advise DPH on evidence-based prevention programs and strategies to reduce community gun violence in the state. The commission is comprised of numerous health care providers, public health and violence prevention experts, law enforcement officials, and community leaders. The 2023 Annual Report from the Commission on Community Gun Violence Intervention and Prevention can be read here.
DPH Commissioner Manisha Juthani, MD, chair of the Commission on Community Gun Violence Intervention and Prevention, said that DPH contracted with the Connecticut Children’s Injury Prevention Center to initiate a request for proposals process to distribute the available funding. Each of the 10 awards are in an amount of $200,000 for one year. Connecticut Children’s will provide all 10 grant recipients technical assistance and support both fiscal and programmatic administration.
“One of our main goals is to build upon the first round of funding to 8 organizations last year and foster strong relationships with an additional 10 local organizations that are involved in community violence and firearm violence prevention and intervention,” said Commissioner Juthani. “This funding will support these community-based programs for their growth and expansion to high-risk geographic areas throughout Connecticut.”
The Commission on Community Gun Violence Intervention and Prevention grant recipients, funded through the State General Fund for Gun Violence Prevention include:
4-CT: With this funding, 4-CT will partner with trusted violence intervention programs in Hartford and New Haven to provide direct cash assistance to people affected by violence. Participants will also receive case management and wraparound support services from 4-CT’s partners.
Advancing CT Together: Advancing CT Together will address community connectedness and mental well-being in Hartford by providing free yoga classes, mindfulness workshops, and conflict resolution training for Hartford residents.
Brother Carl Hardrick Institute: Brother Carl Hardrick Institute’s Youth Empowerment Program will support high school students in Hartford with school-based mentoring, positive youth development programming, and by building relationships with students’ families.
Catalyst CT: Catalyst CT will expand StreetSafe Bridgeport, their youth and community outreach and crisis response program. With this funding, StreetSafe Bridgeport will conduct more youth and community outreach, provide basic necessities and emergency relief to victims of violence and their families, and deliver communities trainings on crisis response topics, including Narcan administration, QPR suicide prevention, and Stop the Bleed.
City of Hartford: The City of Hartford will use funding to do an environmental scan of community violence prevention and intervention services in the city and will create a resource guide and data dashboard to increase access to services for victims of violence.
Clifford Beers Community Care Center: Clifford Beers Community Care Center will use this funding to expand violence prevention and pro-social recreational programming through Farnam House for youth and young adults in New Haven. These programs support youth and families on weekends and during school vacations and seek to strengthen parent-child relationships and connect families to resources in the community.
Hartford Communities That Care: Hartford Communities That Care will grow the reach of the Connecticut Hospital Violence Intervention Program Collaborative to include professionals from previously unrepresented areas in the state and will support violence prevention professionals with training and new program materials.
LifeBridge Community Services: With this funding, LifeBridge Community Services will train high school staff in Bridgeport on trauma and the Community Resiliency Model and will provide social-emotional learning programming and access to mental health services for high school students.
Swords to Ploughshares Northeast: Swords to Ploughshares Northeast will use this funding to expand the number of internships they offer to at-risk youth across the state. These internships include learning about gun violence and violence prevention, gaining practical skills such as blacksmithing (through turning gun parts into garden tools), and receiving support around basic needs.
Urban Community Alliance: Urban Community Alliance will grow their services to youth and young adults in New Haven, including through their Veterans Empowering Teens Through Support (VETTS) program. Participants in the program receive case management, pro-social activities, and other violence prevention services.
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