Alliance of Concerned Men Violence Free Zone - Minnesota Avenue Corridor

The Alliance of Concerned Men (ACM) respectfully requests a grant of $2,000,000 from the Office of Justice Programs Community Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative to expand its Violence Free Zone to serve youth and adults (ages 5-35) in the Greenway community in the District of Columbia. The ACM Violence Free Zone uses a village approach to public safety to reduce and prevent community violence in the District, engaging multiple generations from targeted communities. The Violence Free Zone combines several ACM programs and collaborates with community partners to offer a holistic approach to addressing the underlying factors that contribute to community violence. The project leverages formerly incarcerated men and women to serve as mentors to participants, offering guidance and direction to prevent them from following the same negative paths that their lives had taken prior to their own transformations. The program targets high-risk youth and adults (ages 5-35) with a history of conflict who are most likely to participate in violence or are victims of violence. The program includes case management, conflict resolution training, mental health services, yoga and meditation. The program serves the Greenway community and will be expanded to include a safe passage program for Kimball Elementary School and Sousa Middle School, wraparound services from community partners, extend the target population to add children and adults (previous target population was ages 14-24) and add a violence interrupter. ACM anticipates serving 180 youth and young adults (ages 5-24) and 30 adults (ages 25-35) over the 3-year grant period.

Also, through community-based partnerships, we will offer the following wraparound services for participants and their families:

Restorative Justice – InnerCity Collaborative Community Development Corporation will offer conflict resolution/mediation services when issues arise with students at the schools we serve.
Family Success Center – Life Deeds will offer financial literacy, job readiness training, life skills and other family support services. 
Healing Center – Momma’s Safe Haven will offer a safe space for families to heal from trauma, including victims of violence and those exposed to violence. Services include mental health/substance abuse counseling, grief counseling, peer mentoring, therapeutic retreats, self-love workshops, life skills workshops and victim-initiated activities to empower victims and promote healing such as candlelight vigils and community days of healing.

Anticipated outcomes (by the end of the grant period) are: 1) To achieve a 25% reduction in total violent crimes in Greenway; and 2) 25% of adults served to be employed.