TO ENHANCE COMMUNITY INTERVENTION EFFORTS
Grant will bolster efforts
of Journey-On, Wambli Ska & Red Ribbon Skirt Society
RAPID CITY, SD—The US Department of Justice has announced the City of Rapid City has been awarded a $2 million Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative (CVIPI) grant, part of $100 million in grants awarded nationwide through the Safer Communities Act. through the Office of Justice Programs.
The grant, administered by the Office of Justice Programs, will enable Rapid City officials to build upon recent efforts to bring community partners and resources together to directly address issues such as individuals in crisis, homelessness, crime and issues affecting the city’s youth. The grant will allow funding to create six positions with community organizations Journey-On, Wambli Ska and the Red Ribbon Skirt Society that will be focused on youth mentorship, responders to violence, service navigation and support community runaway coordination. The funding will also provide for a program manager to administer the grant and manage programming through the mayor’s office.
“Over the past five years, the City, Rapid City Police Department and the Rapid City Fire Department have been committed to reducing crime, de-escalating violence and improving the quality of life in our community,” said Mayor Steve Allender. “Last year, we embarked on a community-driven response model to crisis and violence prevention that has shown promising results as demonstrated by Journey-On’s response numbers and success stories, and in the dedicated work of Wambli Ska and the Red Ribbon Skirt Society.”
Since last December, Journey-On has handled over 7,000 calls for services that were previously addressed by police officers or firefighters. The calls for service have addressed the needs of nearly 9,900 individuals.
“We have seen great progress in the City’s investment in these types of community-driven initiatives, especially with Journey-On,” said Allender. “This grant will enable us to build upon that progress and to move forward with initiatives to address some very important issues and people in crisis in our community.”
Rapid City Police Chief Don Hedrick says the grant will provide opportunities to improve the quality of life for many people in Rapid City.
"This is a great step forward to foster community-based partnerships to improve the quality of life for those most vulnerable members of our city,” said Hedrick. “This will diversify the number of tools at our collective disposal to bring non-punitive solutions to those who are willing to invest in their own positive outcomes."
CVIPI grants assist in the development and expansion of effort to build community safety and strengthen neighborhoods.
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