This week, Senior Director Eddie Bocanegra and Centers for New Horizons Executive Director Christa Hamilton joined representatives from Chicago CRED and Communities Partnering 4 Peace to reflect on 2020’s surge in gun violence and to call for increased funding in outreach and critical community development approaches to public safety.
At the press conference, Eddie shared early analysis results of READI Chicago from the University of Chicago Crime Lab, indicating a considerable reduction in gun violence victimization among participants.
“Early results show that our guys are staying engaged, and that they are less likely to shoot or be shot than peers in their same communities,” Eddie said. “These are among the highest-risk individuals in the city. If we had sufficient funding, we could expand access to READI Chicago—we know that doing so would make our neighborhoods safer.”
While recognizing that the City faces budget challenges, the groups that met this week have previously called for $50M in city funding, as well as major investments in state funding.
“This is a life or death program,” Christa said. “We know the program works, but we need help to keep pushing and keep encouraging employers to open their doors to our guys. We can’t deal with this issue in isolation—we need funding and support to engage families and communities.”
