COLUMBUS, Ohio — Neighborhood violence remains a big issue in cities across the state.

Now, the City of Columbus is trying to take another step to help keep people safe. A new proposal being considered by city council would allocate nearly a $1 million toward the effort. Columbus city council is expected to vote later this month on whether it will fund the neighborhood violence intervention program this year. It’s a program that’s been a staple in the city for the last dozen years or so, helping keep children safe.

“We do this, we serve about 150 kids a year or young people a year. And last year we actually served 169. So it was a great year in numbers,” said CEO of Community for New Direction John Dawson.

The organization would be one of two programs that would benefit from this year’s proposal. It would join the Columbus Urban League in getting just under a half million dollars each, right on par with what it’s received in previous years. Dawson’s group uses the money to connect the city’s older kids with the younger ones.

“The model is a mentoring model. So we build relationships with youth from 13 to 23. We do that through referrals from the schools, from probation officers and those that we meet just out in the environment,” said Dawson.

Dawson believes the more they can keep kids busy with productive and fun activities the less often you’ll find them getting into trouble on the streets.

“We take people to basketball games, to the movies, to dinner. Basic things that we think everyone does, but they don't. And so we try to teach them the etiquette of different societal norms,” said Dawson.

Columbus City Council is expected to vote on this new funding by Jan. 22. Until then, the nonprofits will continue to provide what they can to keep our communities safe.