PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia-based community organizations were able to reach more of the people most likely to be impacted by gun violence with the help of grants from the city budget. That’s the conclusion of an evaluation done in 2022, during the first year of the program.
The city gave a total of $13 million to 28 small and medium anti-violence groups as part of the call, after the George Floyd murder, to steer some public safety funding away from law enforcement and toward the communities most impacted by violence.
“This is an innovative program,” said Eve Weiss, senior director of Equal Measure, which was hired to evaluate the initiative. “It’s an influx of dollars to disinvested communities — communities that haven’t had that kind of support.”
The evaluation concluded the groups were able to expand and the beneficiaries were Black and Latino men between 16 and 34 — those most likely to be involved in gun violence.
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Weiss said the grants did benefit the targeted group, but it was too early to say if the grants are actually preventing violence.
“They know what to do with the funds, they knew where the needs were,” she noted. “They were able to hire staff, expand programming, create new sites of service.”
Among the recipients was the Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia. Board chair Brett Williams said the group was over capacity but was able to hire nine new counselors for its work with victims. The grant, he said, “helps us push our mission forward.”
The city increased anti-violence spending in this year’s budget to $24 million. City of Philadelphia Senior Director for Public Safety Erica Atwood hopes the city’s spending will be a model for philanthropic and corporate grants.
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“To make investments in community organizations they may not have a relationship with, to build those relationships and make those investments in places where they know they have impact,” she added.
“I believed in my heart we were doing the right thing, investing the right way, and the evaluation was validating.”