BUILD Chicago: BUILD, Broader Urban Involvement & Leadership Development, is a nationally respected gang intervention, violence prevention, and youth development organization based on Chicago’s West Side. [Website] [IG]
Circles & Ciphers: A hip-hop infused restorative justice organization led by and for young people impacted by violence. Through art-based peace circles, education, and direct action, they collectively heal and work to bring about the abolition of the prison-industrial complex. [Website] [IG]
Communities Partnering 4 Peace: Communities Partnering 4 Peace (CP4P), convened by Metropolitan Family Services, is a framework that provides a comprehensive, long-term approach to reducing violence and gang activity among the individuals and communities it serves. Its work is rooted in nonviolence, trauma-informed care, hyper-local collaboration and restorative justice practices. [Website]
Florecer: Born out of the Chi Student Pandemic Response, Florecer is a Queer grassroots violence prevention organization that provides youth & families on the Southwest side of Chicago opportunities to reimagine their communities through the arts, mutual aid & community building. [Website] [IG]
Free Root Operation: Free Root Operation addresses the root causes of gun violence through a method of critical care encompassing expansive, wraparound wellness and economic development services. These services are foundational pillars of our programs, cultural activations, and violence prevention initiatives which are substantiated by research centering community wisdom. We take an innovative approach that serves as the nexus between championing Black women and their families and preventative measures of poverty-induced gun violence that demands integration into culture. [Website] [IG]
GoodKids MadCity (GKMC): GoodKids MadCity is a youth-led gun violence prevention organization that strives to create a self-sustaining community through mutual aid, community events, and much more. They believe in the importance of prioritizing the safety, needs, and voices of Black and/or Indigenous people of color and advocate for violence prevention that prioritizes more resources, not policing. [Website] [IG]
Here4TheKids Chicago: Here4TheKids is a movement dedicated to collective liberation and the abolition of oppressive systems. Through community and solidarity, they demand an equitable world for future generations, and an end to the existential crises of gun violence, climate change and the slaughter of the Palestinian people. [IG]
Increase the Peace Chicago: #IncreaseThePeace is a volunteer-led organization that develops young leaders and promotes peace through leadership development and community organizing. Their initiatives include events to promote Black and Brown Unity and a street vendor relief fund. [Website] [IG]
Institute for Nonviolence Chicago: The Institute for Nonviolence Chicago is a respected leader in gun violence prevention, intervention, and reduction. Rooted in Kingian Nonviolence, their work heals and restores Chicago communities with the highest incidences of shootings through street outreach, job programs, behavioral health and wellness, and meaningful partnerships with Community Violence Intervention (CVI) and research organizations. [Website] [IG]
Mothers Against Senseless Killing (MASK): A parent-led initiative, MASK seeks to interrupt gun and gang violence by building community, sharing food and resources and teaching gun safety. [Website] [IG]
Peace in Pilsen: A community-led violence prevention initiative, whose efforts include feeding people facing homelessness, facilitating peace circles, conducting wellness checks on community members, and much more. [IG]
Seeds of Roseland: Seeds of Roseland works to reduce gun violence in the Roseland/Pullman/ & West Pullman communities with trauma informed care and cognitive skill building techniques for those who are impacted at the highest levels by violence and trauma. [Website] [IG]
Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation (SOUL): SOUL assists low-income people of color in the Chicago Southland to build power, then subsequently leverage that power to fight for their own interest and liberation. They partner with congregations, people of faith and local community groups, training them in disciplined organizing strategies, to build leadership, impact public policy and legislation, engage in direct action, and hold their public officials accountable to the interest of their communities. [Website] [IG]
#StopShotspotter: A broad coalition of local and national organizations and communities who are deeply concerned about ShotSpotter’s harmful impacts on the Black, brown, and poor people that the company surveils, united to #StopShotSpotter and build community-led responses to address the root causes of gun violence. [Website] [IG]
Stick Talk: By reassessing urban gun violence through the prism of harm reduction, Stick Talk builds capacity for survivor-centered community safety beyond criminalization and abstinence. An abolitionist base-building organization. [Website]
Transforming Community Safety Collaborative: TCSC creates safety on the NW Side by forming relationships with neighbors & building collective power. They activate community spaces & organize to advance local policies that prevent violence, address trauma, & ensure every resident can live in dignity. [Facebook]
beyond november 