Roanoke, Virginia – Roanoke Gun Violence Prevention Commission announced the recipients of the grant one day after their meeting.
The $65,000 will be distributed through smaller grants to the following organizations:
- Boys and Girls Club of Southwest Virginia— Project Learn will receive funds to pilot positive action violence, social, emotional, and violence reduction educational programming. and violence reduction educational programming.
- CommUNITY Arts Reach— financing for the educational and performance-based initiative Guns Down, ARTS UP.
- Anew Genesis Ministries—funding to address prevention efforts in the Roanoke community through a positive mentoring and entrepreneurial skills program for young persons aged 12 through 18.
- Cultural Arts for Excellence— financing for a yearly summer camp that allows adolescents to be creative, develop good non-violent coping techniques, and spend time outside.
- Total Action for Progress— financing for a TAP-Gun Violence Intervention Community Engagement project with a focus on the Melrose-Rugby neighborhood to establish new collaborations, create capacity, and boost the effectiveness of existing mainstream resources.
- Casa Latina Roanoke Valley— During the month of August, funding for a “Summer Hangout” program will be accessible to any youth middle school through age 25 with a focus on alternatives to violence, conflict resolution, outlets for energy and anger, and artistic forms of expression.
- Building Bridges Over Barriers— financing for a festival event to promote awareness, provide education, and services to Roanoke residents in order to effectively address the impact of gun and other violence in our community.
- Virginia Harm Reduction Coalition— funding for Groceries Not Guns, a gun buyback event in Roanoke City aimed at minimizing firearm access among teens in order to minimize suicide and murder risk.
- Straight Street Roanoke Valley, Inc.—funding to support presentations in City schools, with keynote speakers sharing information about gun violence. This is based Rachel’s Challenge, a program designed to prevent gun violence by providing education and developing a peer support system.
- SOOUL Foundation—funding for a mentoring program that will run through the summer months to allow local middle school students a safe place to express themselves and their talents. The program will run twice a month on Fridays for three hours.
- Paradise Community Development Center—funding for Lock-In’s each Friday in June for youth grades K-12, to provide youth with tools to migrate through the summer safely, have a safe place to engage with peers and mentors, and receive education and training in how to communicate and resolve conflicts without violence.
- Paradise Cathedral Family Center, Humble Bees Youth Ministry—funding to facilitate training and programming for adult and youth peer mentoring.
- The Humble Hustle Company, Inc.—funding to collaborate with Imagine Me Mentoring and provide a second free summer enrichment camp for youth grades 5 through 8. This project will provide a safe, inclusive, dynamic space for the most at-risk youth during the summer.
- Garden of Prayer # 7 Vision of Faith Ministries, Inc.—funding for three community outreach programs for inner city youth and neighbors to enrich, encourage, and invoke positive change in the neighborhood. Program will include the re-launch CLIP of (Children Learning Program in the Prevention of Crime).
- Family Service of Roanoke Valley—funding to provide positive action facilitation and programming to youth in after-school centers in the summer months. Positive action is an evidence-based social and emotional learning program.
- West End Center for Youth—funding to expand their high school program to prevent violence and improve the lives of those who deal with its effects, refined to use best practices for addressing community violence.
- W.E. Charm—funding to partner with local agencies, police, mental health organizations, after-school programs and firearms safety organizations to provide a violence intervention program to young adults and youth in our local community, including mentorship and educational support, training and workshop materials to our young adult parents raising young children.
The winners of the grants need to finish their activities or programs till the end of the summer.
