Community organizers rallied at Cleveland City Hall Wednesday to call for a restoration of federal funding for gun violence prevention programs.
The U.S. Department of Justice said the cuts to the Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative, which total an estimated $180 million so far, are designed to eliminate government waste.
Among the groups present at Wednesday's event was Cleveland Peacemakers Alliance, a violence interruption group, which said it recently lost a $2 million federal grant — most of which was unspent.
Legacies Empowered, another nonprofit in attendance, provides job training and mental health programs, including for those affected by gun violence.
"Funding for our organizations, [that's] more people we can impact," said Chardé Hollins, executive director of Legacies Empowered. "So when we are defunded, it impacts the amount of reach that we can have to save lives. "
Hollins said policy makers may believe the cuts will affect only Black and brown men living in cities — a population disproportionately affected by gun violence — but noted guns are now a leading cause of death for young people nationally.
"We look at certain policies and we put zip codes to them, race to them, gender to them, rather than just understanding that this is a human issue," Hollins said.
Another group, New Era Cleveland, conducts door-to-door visits and events to prevent disputes from erupting into gun violence.
Austreeia Everson, New Era's president, said the cuts to violence interruption programs will translate to people feeling unsafe in their neighborhoods.
"We can't come outside if we don't feel safe. We can't go to school, we can't do anything if we don't feel safe," she said.
Cleveland recorded a five-year high death rate from gun violence in 2023, the last year for which data are available. The majority of firearm deaths were homicides (76%), while 22% were suicides.
The U.S. Department of Justice has said it will make more cuts to community violence intervention grants in coming months.
Ideastream Public Media pays the Cleveland Peacemakers Alliance for help with community outreach on the issue of gun violence for a series of stories and for the podcast "Living for We, Keep Ya Head Up," which is co-hosted by Executive Director Myesha Watkins.
