For 2019 and 2020, the city funded the two sites that kicked off the program with $3.4 million total. They added $1.5 million for 2021. The $470,000 for the start-up of the third site on the westside is the first money to not come out of the city coffers.
In addition, city staff are currently working on the budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which will ask for $2.4 million total for the three sites: $800,000 each.
Cure Violence, a Chicago-based program that has been implemented in cities across the country, is designed to prevent violence . Dozens of trained community members, most of whom have also previously had brushes with the law, are sent out into specific zip codes to intervene when violent crime occurs by talking with family and friends of victims. The goal: stop retaliatory violence and ultimately stop the spread of violence altogether.
2 Mothers, 1 Mission: A better life for their young families in 32209
“Everybody s scared to love each other around here, because of exactly what it is: a high crime area, Nikel Brooks said. And I want everyone to feel loved.“ Author: Haley Harrison Updated: 12:25 AM EST February 4, 2021
Some people living in the crime-plagued 32209 ZIP code believe cleaning up the streets means, quite literally, cleaning up the streets.
Two mothers mission is simply to make their neighborhoods beautiful again. Be a change, where you want to see a change is Nikel Brooks and her business partner Moné Cohen’s motto.
“Everybody s scared to love each other around here, because of exactly what it is: a high crime area, Nikel Brooks said. And I want everyone to feel loved.“