by Jamil Ragland CTNewsJunkie
A nonprofit Hartford violence prevention organization announced Thursday that it had received nearly $200,000 from the federal government as part of a $4-billion investment in safer communities.
Compass Youth Collaborative, an organization specializing in violence reduction and providing wraparound services to victims of violence, received $198,992 from the US Department of Justice. The funds will be used to support culturally responsive care and services including wound care supplies, transportation, food, clothes, hygiene products, and temporary housing or home safety repairs, in partnership with local hospitals.
“Every loss of life is a tragedy for the family of the victim and the community,” said Jacquelyn Santiago Nazario, CEO of Compass Youth Collaborative. “That’s why Compass is committed to our hospital violence intervention program. This grant will strengthen our program. Compass will use this grant to meet the basic needs of youth who are victims of violence. Youth need to know we care before they care about what we know. Providing them with clean clothes to wear home from the hospital so they don’t have to wear the bloody clothes they were injured in shows we care.”
Hartford Mayor Arunan Arulampalam, Office of Violence Prevention Director Chavon Campbell, US Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-CT, and Kevin Borrup, director of the Injury Prevention Center at the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, were on hand to attend the announcement.
“$200,000 will enable these folks to reach out to young people, especially young males of color, who are victims and survivors of serious violence and crime and help them rebuild their lives,” Blumenthal said. “And rather than going back on the street and seeking revenge with more violence, enabling them to go for education, skill training and housing, whatever they need. That outreach, that peace building, is essential.”
Arulampalam said that the work Compass performs serves as a model for the entire nation.
“We’ve got an incredible peaceforce here and there’s so much that they’re doing to interrupt violence, to react proactively and to police intelligently,” Arulampalam said. “Our men and women in blue are backed up by an army of men and women in orange, and we’re so proud of the work that they do every day.”
In addition to political leaders, one of the beneficiaries of Compass’ wraparound approach shared his story. Andel Ortiz, a sophomore at AI Prince Technical High School in Hartford, was shot in the hip during a robbery. He described how Connecticut Children’s Medical Center connected him with Compass, who sent Shakira Givens, a social worker at Compass, and Janet Rice, a crisis specialist, to work with him. He says that since he was shot, they’ve come to his house every week.
“They helped me get clothes and a uniform for school and other basic needs that will help me heal,” he said. “They check up on me to make sure I am eating and sleeping well. Ever since I was shot, I have been having trouble sleeping and lost my appetite. I felt very weak from the amount of blood I lost.”
He credits them both with helping him through the healing process, and with learning to move forward and focus on the future.
“Shakira and I talk about how I am doing in school, and how I am processing what happened to me,” he said. “I have a lot of goals for my future. One day I’d like to do something in the medical field. My life was almost taken from me before I even had a chance to accomplish my goals.”
The funding is part of $4 billion the Justice Department is awarding to communities across the nation, to support public safety and community justice activities The grants come from the Department’s Office of Justice Programs (OJP) and are designed to fund efforts across the country to reduce violence, expand services for crime victims and survivors, and improve outcomes for youth and adults involved in the criminal and juvenile justice systems.
“The Justice Department is working together with our law enforcement and community partners across the country to turn the tide in the fight against violent crime,” said Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in a statement. “This $4 billion investment across more than 3,800 different programs will advance our efforts to drive down violent crime, support victims, build trust between law enforcement and the communities we serve, and ensure that all Americans feel safe and are safe in their communities.”
Violence prevention programs appear to be having a positive effect on gun violence in Hartford. Nazario pointed out during the press conference that by October 2023, Hartford had 33 homicides and 88 shootings. This year, those numbers are down to 15 homicides and 61 shootings.