Members of READI Chicago traveled to Los Angeles last month for the L.A. Gang Prevention and Intervention Conference. The conference is focused on how communities are impacted by violence, assembling experts and practitioners to collaborate on best practices and data-driven models to enhance violence reduction services, policies, and practices.
READI Chicago staff attended various self-care, skills, and best practice sessions, learning from other organizations across the country while sharing learnings from READI Chicago.
“We all have something to share in this field, and we learned a lot from each other and shared thoughts,” Institute for Nonviolence Chicago (INVC) Outreach Supervisor Sam Castro said. “A lot of people told us they would love to have a program like READI Chicago in their area.”
Jackie Summerville-White, former Austin READI Chicago community project manager and the new director of Heartland Alliance’s Onboard Chicago initiative, hosted a panel at the conference, where Senior Director Eddie Bocanegra, University of Chicago Urban Labs’ Monica Bhatt, and INVC’s Sam Castro gave an overview of READI Chicago, as well as program opportunities and lessons learned.
“It was an amazing opportunity to be able to connect with other people who are doing some amazing work, both nationally and internationally,” Eddie said. “It gave us an opportunity to see how we measure up with other organizations, and what we can learn from them and share with them.”
The panel allowed the team to highlight some of the most unique components of READI Chicago, such as the emphasis on cognitive behavioral therapy and relentless engagement. The idea of meeting people where they are without terminating their employment was new to many organizations, and Eddie said people were shocked at the level of support for READI Chicago through both philanthropy and coalitions.
“My biggest takeaway is violence is violence,” Sam said. “No matter where you are, trauma is trauma, and we really need to focus on going deeper to treat the root cause.”
