The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is making $1.8 million in grant funding available across the state to support community violence intervention programs, with Berrien County listed as one of the priority areas for funding.
Jennifer DeLaCruz is the director of the department’s Office of Community Violence Intervention Services and tells us the grants being made available will help organizations in their communities prevent gun violence through initiatives of their own. Recipients could include all sorts of entities.
“It just depends upon the community, and it depends upon perhaps where the community has put some resources,” DeLaCruz said. “So it could be really community nonprofits, it could be working with the courts, it could be working with health systems.”
DeLaCruz says the state held public sessions in Benton Harbor and Benton Township last year to talk with local leaders about partnerships to prevent gun violence. It sees an opportunity to use the grant to build on those efforts.
“Benton Harbor and Benton Charter Township, there’s some really great work being done with some of the community leaders, including the areas of public safety for Benton Harbor and Benton Charter Township, faith community organizations that are serving youth.”
The goal is to reduce gun violence among populations considered at the highest risk.
DeLaCruz says of the $1.8 million available in this round of grant funding, about six to eight grants will be awarded statewide. The maximum amount they can be is $500,000 while the minimum is $25,000. Organizations interested in applying can do so now with the recipients likely to be announced in September.
A pre-application conference will be held to provide information about the grant program and instruction on using the state’s EGrAMS system. The pre-application conference is at 9:30 a.m., Thursday, May 21, and will last approximately 90 minutes. The conference can be accessed here.
