OUR APPROACH
Building Trust.
Building Relationships.
Building Peace.
By building relationships and trust at the individual, family, and neighborhood levels, each of our programs contribute to our holistic approach to gun violence prevention.
Our four step approach consists of:
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Peaceful conflict resolution
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Connection to social services
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Community building
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Facilitate healing
and is designed to end gun violence by focusing on those most impacted.
About Our Programs
OUTREACH
Focused Interruption’s Outreach Team works to prevent gun violence by developing relationships with people at highest risk of gun violence and engage these individuals in supportive services such as job placement or training, mental health treatment, legal services, and childcare. Throughout this process our highly trained Outreach Team, many of whom who have lived experience with violence and incarceration, provide ongoing mentoring, life coaching and dispute mediation to people at highest risk of community gun violence.
COMMUNITY
SAFETY WORKERS
The purpose of Focused Interruption’s Community Safety Workers (CSWs) is to prevent violence in affected neighborhoods by acting as conflict mediators, social service connectors, and community builders. They collaborate with our outreach and support group programs to refer high-risk people to suitable services. CSWs also serve as an alternative to police for non-criminal 911 calls, promoting mediation and social service connections. Drawing from their own experiences and professional skills, CSWs help facilitate public safety through strong relationships with neighbors, police, and social services.
SUPPORT GROUPS
Our support groups serve the families most impacted by community gun violence, including families of both victims and perpetrators, by providing a safe space to heal, process, and connect to others with similar experiences. Support groups also provide referrals to services such as mental health treatment, job and education resources, legal and rental assistance. Our support group facilitators combine lived experience of community gun violence and incarceration with professional training to facilitate healing and service connection to family members most impacted by community gun violence.
BROTHERS AGAINST ODDS
The Brothers Against Odds (B.A.O.) initiative is a mentoring and goal setting program for young men at high/medium risk of gun violence victimization and perpetration. B.A.O. focuses on community readiness by working with community partners, parents, and schools to develop a post high school graduation plan that helps youth confidently transition into adulthood. The group meets weekly on Wednesdays to discuss issues like loyalty, friendship, dating, finances and other life skills and on Fridays to share progress and to meet on fun activities.
LEADERS OF TOMORROW
Through our Leaders of Tomorrow (L.O.T.) program, Focused Interruption supports school aged youth who have strayed from a constructive path in their school and community lives. The program is designed to help young individuals make better choices, avoid incarceration, improve their lives, and develop solid career and educational goals. Through a combination of mentorship, skills training, and emotional support, the program aims to increase school engagement, foster a constructive role in community life, and reduce recidivism.