The City of Oakland Awards Mini-Grants to Community Organizations Dedicated to Violence Prevention

Media Contact:

Candace Reese Walters

Public Information Officer III

Department of Violence Prevention

(510) 679-8175

crwalters@oaklandca.gov

01-18-2023

Oakland, CA – The City of Oakland, Department of Violence Prevention (DVP) has awarded its FY 2022-23 community healing mini-grants to nonprofits and individuals dedicated to leading initiatives for those who have lost loved ones to violent acts. The aim is to lift up the wisdom of families and residents closest to violence, and to deepen their skills to promote healing through community-led outreach activities and events. This year's decision-making body awarded 56 projects, totaling $475,000 to recipients.

"These grants allow for the individual and community voices of wisdom, who normally do not have access to city funding, to contribute to the healing process of Oakland through traditional nonwestern strategies,” comments Guillermo Cespedes, Chief of the Department of Violence Prevention.

Youth Leadership Institute, a San Francisco-based organization will distribute the funding. The process of choosing mini grantees was highly competitive, with over 100 applications received from across Oakland. Evaluators, comprised of Oakland community members, were required to make highly difficult decisions around final confirmations on proposals.

The grants will provide up to $15,000 to small nonprofit organizations (with an annual budget of less than $500,000), and up to $5,000 to individuals (with an identified fiscal sponsor) leading innovative community healing initiatives for those most directly impacted by gun violence, gender-based violence, or commercial sexual exploitation.

Department of Violence Prevention’s (DVP) Community Healing Mini-Grant funds prioritized projects that uplift the following principles:

• PROMOTE SAFETY AND HEALING: All projects must promote safety and healing in Oakland to change norms around violence and the stigma around seeking support and healing.
• CENTERS MOST-IMPACTED: Projects led by those most impacted by gun/group/ gang violence, gender-based violence (e.g., Intimate partner violence and Commercial Sexual Exploitation), and/or other types of violence in Oakland will be given priority.
• ENCOURAGE COMMUNITY BUILDING AND COLLECTIVE HEALING: Projects that promote community empowerment, invest in leadership opportunities for people at the center of violence and uplift homegrown, cultural healing practices.
• STRENGTHEN COMMUNITY CONNECTIONS: Projects that offer collaborative opportunities for neighborhood residents to come together to improve healing and well-being in their neighborhoods.
• DEMONSTRATE BENEFICIAL IMPACT: Projects should demonstrate direct, achievable benefits that have a positive community impact.

The DVP applies a public health approach to violence prevention focused on community-led intervention strategies to realize sustained safety and stability of the families and communities most impacted by violence. DVP funds the Community Healing & Restoration strategy. Violence prevention mini-grants support innovative, resident-led and community-based violence reduction projects. To learn more about the DVP mini grants, and for a full list of current projects, please visit the website.

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