Countywide Coordinating
Committee to Address
Community Violence
In 2015, when our community began to see an increase in community gun violence for the first time, the Community Coalition began the work to identify and implement approaches to respond to these tragedies. We have long stated that we will never normalize community violence. The response to community violence has also included support from grassroots groups, impacted community members, faith groups, and volunteers from every corner of Champaign-Urbana.
Yet, as we are all too painfully aware, gun violence is continuing to rise and finding solutions is complex, especially in the midst of the ongoing crisis. This work is deeply personal and extremely difficult. There have been numerous town halls, planning sessions, and individual conversations to gather feedback from the community to strengthen our approaches.
We are introducing a community-led Coordinating Committee for initiatives to address community violence. This Coordinating Committee will prioritize voices of community members most impacted by community violence and will be central in driving our messaging and communication on the valuable work being done in the community. We are a resource rich community, yet too often we hear that organizations and individuals are not aware of these resources.
The Coordinating Committee has the following roles:
- Hub of resources and information regarding history of addressing community violence.
- Elevate the community voice in promoting initiatives to address community violence with a unified vision.
- Facilitate community input and engagement in community violence initiatives.
- Identify community resources to support community members impacted by community violence.
Identify resources and training to support community-based initiatives.
