Creating Safer Communities.
Credible messengers and conflict mediators embedded in the neighborhood — defusing violence before it escalates and mentoring young people out of the life.
Prevention before the incident. Response after.
Our Violence Prevention pillar takes a multifaceted approach to building safer neighborhoods. Outreach workers are out on the block nightly — mediating disputes, riding to the hospital with shooting victims, and pulling young men aside before a retaliation escalates. Every worker carries a long-term caseload of participants they mentor directly.
- 24/7 community response team covering Woodlawn + Washington Park
- Hospital-based intervention partnering with University of Chicago Medicine
- Embedded mediators in local schools
- Weekly peace circles for young men 16–24
- Conflict resolution training for community members
- Community events promoting unity and connection
Led by people from the block.
Our outreach team is made up of credible messengers — people with lived experience in the community who have earned trust on the street. They work alongside licensed professionals and in close collaboration with law enforcement and community partners.
Who we work with.
- University of Chicago Medicine
- Chicago Public Schools — Hyde Park Academy
- Office of Violence Prevention, City of Chicago
- New Beginnings Church of Chicago
What the work is producing.
"They showed up when nobody else did. When my brother got shot, outreach was at the hospital before my mother got there."— Program participant, age 23
A weekend with no shootings in Woodlawn.
This year, our team marked something that once felt impossible: an entire weekend in Woodlawn with no shootings. One weekend doesn’t end the work — but it proves what sustained, daily investment in people can do.
Moments like these don’t come from a single event or program. They’re the product of credible messengers on the block every night, mentors who pull young people aside before a conflict escalates, and a community that refuses to accept violence as normal.