At Issue: Heartland Alliance Program Helps Gun Violence Victims, Perpetrators Find Jobs, Transition Into Community

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Photo credit (Craig Dellimore.WBBM)

CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A program from the Heartland Alliance reports progress in heading off some of the senseless gun violence on Chicago’s streets by giving out 500 jobs.The READI Chicago program provides employment for people deemed most in danger of being involved in gun violence on both sides of the barrel, according to Senior Director Eddie Bocanegra.

"Often, we put people who have been victims of violence in one bucket and offendors and perpestrators in another bucket," Bocanegra said. "But often they are the same people."

READI Chicago seeks out people who have been touched by gun violence and offers them jobs. And if you think people who have been shot, or arrested, or jailed, might not be interested in a jobs program, think again, said Bocanegra.

He said the original vision for the program was to have 400 participants primarily on West and South Sides. But the program quickly discovered that the number of men who wanted to be a part of it far outdistanced resources that had been allocated.