Thomas Hurley, Assistant Superintendent of Operations for the Department of Juvenile Justice, expounds on the necessity of engaging youth offenders, and former youth offenders, in the development of safer, peaceful communities Every youth has a parent, two parents (whether they be engaged with them or not) — they're somebody's son, somebody's daughter, and we need to treat

This year, the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities (PSPC) awarded 132 grants, totaling $850,000, to fund activities throughout the summer and fall in 19 prioritized communities. These neighborhood organizations are working to reduce gun violence, helping to reclaim parks, streets, and public areas, and building community cohesion, and we celebrate them!

​Boxville is an initiative of Urban Juncture; it sits at the foot of the 51st Street Green Line stop, a station that's part of the Elevated Chicago Green Line South stretch. With its Safe & Peaceful Chicago grant, Urban Juncture is expanding Boxville, creating a community gathering "box" (i.e. reconstituted train cars) among the other retail-rooted

David Rojas, a co-founder of The Alliance 98 (TA98), was recently featured on an episode of ChiPedia, a WGN Radio podcast hosted by Marsha Lyles. TA98 is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization that works to reduce unemployment among young adults through training and job readiness initiatives. Rojas talked about how the grant awarded to TA98 will benefit Suited

The Metropolitan Peace Academy, the first of its kind in Chicago, is a multidisciplinary training platform designed to professionalize street outreach. Participants complete a rigorous 144-hour, 18-week curriculum focused on street outreach, nonviolence, trauma-informed services and restorative justice. The Peace Academy's inaugural class graduated in June 2018. The Peace Academy is part of Communities Partnering 4 Peace

A decades-old Chicago institution, Safe and Peaceful grantee The Original 64th Street Drummers brought drum circles to neighborhoods across the city as a means to promote peace. This summer, the collective performed a weekly concert in a vacant lot in the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood. "Drumming brings command, and it also brings calm. You can use any open

Derrick House, a former gang leader in the 1970s and 1980s, returned to Chicago after 20 years in prison and became a committed violence interrupter in West Garfield Park and Austin with The Institute for Nonviolence. He passed away of natural causes June 20, at 52, and he is remembered for saving lives and becoming a

Better relationships between police, anti-violence workers, residents, and community-based organizations has helped reduce violence in Chicago. Technology is also boosting the impact, with Strategic Decision Support Centers embedded in Chicago police districts that use predictive software to help police respond more quickly and proactively to shootings. In Englewood, using the technology in partnership with other community

Poet explores life & loss on Chicago's South Side Part One I miss you on nights like these where there is either fireworks or gunshots in the air along with July's humidity As I drive by I see families out playing and laughing with each other and it's sad because all I can think about is you How you had that ability to make every

This is the fifth of the Building Peace series in Crain's Chicago Business. It was written by Asiaha Butler, co-founder and president of Resident Association of Greater Englewood (RAGE), and Deborah Bennett, senior program officer for Polk Bros. Foundation. In the first weeks of last summer, Asiaha Butler's block in Englewood saw a rash of shootings. Instead