AKRON, Ohio — The city has launched a program that will award grants to organizations that help people who have experienced trauma made worse by the pandemic.

What You Need To Know

  • Violence Intervention and Prevention grants will be awarded to groups that help people traumatized by violence

  • A city staff position was created to develop programming aimed at preventing youth and community violence

  • The city has earmarked $10 million to address violence out of $145 million awarded by the American Rescue Plan Act

  • The city plans to offer training sessions in early 2022 to help eligible groups apply

The Violence Intervention and Prevention (VIP) grant program will award the grants to nonprofits, faith-based groups and healthcare organizations that help people traumatized by violence, with a goal of allocating $450,000 by the end of the year, the city said.

The city also has created a staff position to develop programming aimed at preventing youth and community violence.

The staff position and grant program are part of the city’s Five Point Framework for Community Violence Reduction, which Mayor Dan Horrigan announced in September.

To address violence, the city has earmarked $10 million from $145 million Akron was awarded by the American Rescue Plan Act.  

The money will be used to provide grants and support to local organizations that work to prevent violence, stop the progression of violence and rehabilitate people with a history of violent behavior, the city said.

The city will award the VIP grants quarterly through 2022, and the application process remains open during that time, with awards made on a rolling basis, the city said.

The city plans to offer training sessions in early 2022 to help eligible groups apply.

In recent years, Akron’s homicide rate has continued to rise, with 45 homicides since Jan. 1, according to the LexisNexis Community Crime Map.

Horrigan blames the recent rise in violence, in part, on conditions created by the pandemic, he said in a news release.

“Decreasing this violence in our community requires a comprehensive, multi-faceted approach that supports effective policing, but also goes well beyond that,” Horrigan said. “By supporting proven mentoring, skills building and intervention programs we can prevent crime and enhance the wellbeing of a generation of young people not only burdened by longstanding inequities and exposure to violence, but also the increased stress and harm of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The city’s Five Point Framework is grounded in key points established by a Youth Violence Prevention Taskforce created in 2016, which prioritized prevention, intervention and support, enforcement, partnership and advocacy, and community accountability.

More information about the VIP grant program is available on the city’s website.

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