As part of the American Jobs Plan’s focus on investing in workforce development, President Biden called on Congress to invest $5 billion in support of evidence-based community violence prevention programs—programs like READI Chicago—and to invest in job training for formerly incarcerated individuals, like the men we serve.
Never before has the federal government taken such significant steps to invest in communities of color disproportionately impacted by gun violence—a leading cause of death for young Black men in Chicago. We’ve seen firsthand in READI Chicago the many ways that a lack of community safety can keep someone from finding housing, traveling safely to work, or safely supporting their families. Elevating and prioritizing the safety and humanity of the men we serve is critical to achieving racial equity, and this funding is an important first step in continuing that fight.
This announcement is a culmination of the hard work of our partners and stakeholders who have elevated the voices of READI Chicago participants and our program, every day, locally and nationally—our participants, funders, community-based partners, and elected officials. Together and through your support, we are demonstrating the value of investments and how they can save lives.
This was an important first step in eliminating gun violence and investing in communities, but we have more work to do in securing the $5 billion investment and ensuring it saves as many lives as possible. We need to ensure our resources are targeted toward the people who need them most—those at the very highest risk of being involved in violence. We need to invest in evidence-based programs to ensure we are providing comprehensive, trauma-informed supports that will have the greatest impact; and we need to build capacity in communities to promote sustained community safety and opportunity for all.
