Akron Reporter

Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan announced the 26 organizations receiving Violence Intervention and Prevention (VIP) grants from the City’s third round of grant funding. The City is awarding $1.5M in grants in round 3 and recently renewed grants for the Round 1 recipients for an additional $1.3M going towards violence prevention. In total, the City has committed $4.4M in grants towards local organizations that are working to prevent violence from occurring, stop the progression of violence, and rehabilitate individuals with a history of violent behavior. The funding comes from the City’s allocation of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars.

“We’ve heard dozens of success stories coming from the organizations funded in the first rounds of the VIP program, so we know these dollars are making a tangible difference in our community,” said Akron Mayor Dan Horrigan. “By funding both legacy institutions and more grassroots and faith-based organizations this round, we can really take a holistic approach to address the causes of violence and violent behavior in our young people and get them on a path to a brighter future.”

Round 3 VIP Grant Recipients:

• Akron Aids Collaborative - $80,000
  • Provide skills training for new facilitators; provide weekly group facilitation, program materials, provide stipends, bus passes, and marketing for a community-wide awareness campaign related to the LGBTQ+ community
• Akron Dream Center - $15,000
  • Funding will be used to purchase microphones, headphones, sound panels, software, keyboards, and instruments for the Creative Labs Studio Program that teaches youth in the community the valuable skills of music production, writing, recording and mixing, providing the opportunity to express themselves in healthy and creative ways
• Akron Urban League - $100,000
  • Will provide mentorship and life skills coaching to teens and young adults and will work alongside the Young Adult Group to identify a problem within their community, seek alternatives to address the issues, and develop a strategic plan to implement their ideas and solutions to bring about community change. Participants will also engage in 2-3 service learning activities throughout the year
• Akron Zoo - $60,000
  • Funds will allow the Akron Zoo and ARPA VIP partners to co-deliver a youth entrepreneurship program involving 15-20 Akron-based teenagers in growing the local compost market. Students will develop and deliver a customized youth entrepreneurship curriculum, coordinate composting services for local residents or businesses
• Alchemy Inc. - $100,000
  • Funds will specifically allow Alchemy to offer its mentoring program at 6 APS schools to increase the Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) of students, including improvements in self-awareness, self-management, self-motivation, decision-making, social awareness, relationship skills, and post-secondary educational success
• Always Climbing Project - $50,000
  • Funds will be used to further develop the Future Climbers program - an afterschool program focused on mentoring, life skills, and leadership development to prepare our youth for a successful adulthood in college, the workforce and beyond. The program will serve 25 students at Firestone Community Learning Center
• AxessPointe - $100,000
  • Creation of a Community Health Worker position with a focus on Violence Intervention Prevention to assist with reducing violence in the community
• Boys & Girls Club Northeast Ohio - $50,000
  • Provides youth ages 6-18 with safe, supportive and fun spaces to spend time during the critical hours of 2:30 - 7:00 p.m as well as during the summer months
• Developing Student Athletes - $20,000
  • Funds will be used to expand on their current mentorship program by purchasing program equipment and providing incentives for 50 students ages 6-18. Additionally, DSA will offer a Violence Prevention Partnership workshop along with a Youth Athletics Mentoring Coaching workshop
• Fathers & Sons of Northeast Ohio - $15,000
  • Will provide a mentoring program for fathers in order to assist them with accessing their child and building a relationship with their child. This program will provide men with fatherhood education classes & supportive services in order to build the father/child relations workshop
• GoalGetta Academy - $20,000
  • Will provide an after-school mentoring program for at risk youth ages 9-19 who have great exposures to violent crimes that have shown severe lack of motivation due to a learning disorder, or mental health challenges. Goal Getta Academy will host a Teen Career Day to expose this target population to the many job opportunities that are available based on their likes, goals, and desires
• GodRich Project - $21,000
  • Creation of a mentoring program that coaches the youth and residents on how to use farming to grow and beautify to build a stronger community in attempt to reduce violence
• Harmony House - $35,200
  • This grant will support a one stop fully equipped refuge that addresses all the needs of youth and young adults aged 18-26 who have been exposed to violence and are homeless or at risk for homelessness through a variety of services
• He Brought Us Out Ministry - $50,000
  • Will expand its current wraparound services in the North Hill area to expand and support its National Night Out Against Crime Initiative, Stop the Violence Community Symposium, It's OK to Tell Initiative, and HBUO Food Pantry initiatives
• House of the Lord - $100,000
  • Funds will allow The House of the Lord to offer its Grief Recovery Method to address pain and suffering to communities impacted from the killing of a loved one. Additionally, the House of the Lord will conduct a Fugitive Safe Surrender initiative
• It’s Not a Moment But a Movement, Inc. - $50,000
  • Funding will be used to implement a Youth Empowerment Mentoring Program for 15-20 APS Middle School students in each cluster. Program will offer 150 hours of youth development, peer-led facilitation, and community peace projects.
• Keepers of the Art, Inc. - $15,000
  • Funding will be used for microphones, headphones, sound panels, software, keyboards, and instruments for the After School Mentoring Program. Keepers of the Art will provide 15-20 youth in the community the valuable skills of music production, writing, recording and mixing, providing the opportunity to express themselves in healthy and creative ways while also obtaining skills that can be used to generate income
• Kent State University - $50,000
  • Funding will be used to provide a mentoring program for 15-30 foster youth of Akron annually which will focus on life skills, and employment, enrollment, or enlistment readiness. These areas will be addressed through bi-weekly after-school sessions, monthly Saturday engagement days, and a 2-week Kent State summer academy experience held at the University
• Law & Leadership - $20,000
  • Funding will expand their mentoring & life program for 10 additional first generation college students to participate in their Law & Leadership program which will focus on life skills, and employment, enrollment, or enlistment readiness. These areas will be addressed through monthly after-school sessions and a University of Akron summer academy experience
• Love Akron - $50,000
  • Funding will provide "The Locker Room Experience", a mentorship program for 120 high school student-athletes which will focus on life skills, leadership development, and employment, enrollment, or enlistment readiness. These areas will be addressed through monthly after-school sessions, school projects, and community projects identified by the group to prevent violence
• Minority Behavioral Health Group - $100,000
  • MBHG will provide training for 15-20 minority men to obtain 3 nationally recognized certifications within the behavioral health field in order to address the targeted population of 75 at-risk youth ages 16-25 and provide mentorship & wraparound services
• Project Ujima - $132,565
  • Facilitation of Peace Circles in the community beginning in 2023 with a focus of healing the community to reduce violence & assisting with creation of the Strategic Plan around Violence Intervention & Prevention for the City of Akron
• United Way of Summit & Medina Counties - $125,000
  • Funding will allow the United Way to partner with leadership from the GAR Foundation, Akron Public Schools, Summit Education Initiative, City of Akron, families, students, local universities, and providers to collaboratively design and launch an Out of School Time Network guided by the City of Akron’s 5 Point Framework for Community Violence Reduction to increase equity and access
• Tri-County JOGS - $50,000
  • Funding will allow JOGS to provide its job readiness and placement programming in a new, afterschool and summertime format at Buchtel CLC, East CLC, Garfield CLC and North High School. Funds will also provide adult and peer mentoring, community awareness and extracurricular involvement and expansion of the Work Based Learning opportunities within Akron Public Schools
• Wealthy Place Staffing - $100,000
  • Funding will select 50 individuals ages 15 to 21 and enroll into the BOSS job training program aimed at improving the social and clinical programs that affect an individual which results in criminal behavior. Mentors will be provided to these individuals for a holistic wraparound approach
• Wingfoot Church - $45,000
  • Funding will be used to provide an after-school program called “Food, Faith and Fitness” targeting youth ages 10-14 from the Goodyear Heights neighborhood. The program will offer a bi-weekly experience from 3:00-5:00pm in cooking, exercise, and character development and conflict management skills

Round 1 VIP Grantees Renewal Amount

Alchemy - $213,000

Citizen’s Church Akron - $100,000

Dreams Academy - $100,000

Fallen Fathers Foundation - $100,000

Guys & Gals - $100,000

Hope & Healing/Battered Women’s Shelter - $100,000

Pastoral Counseling/Red Oak - $166,000

Project GRAD Akron - $169,000

South Street Ministries - $100,000

Victim’s Assistance - $100,000

Williams Challenge - $50,000

Denico Buckley-Knight, the City’s Youth and Community Opportunity Director said, “Our community has a real passion for wanting to help our young people turn away from a life of violence and instead provide them with resources, skills, training, and support to lead productive, healthy lives. Over the past 9 months of working with organizations receiving this grant funding, I’ve seen what these dollars can do and I’m confident they are making an impact. I’m looking forward to working closely with this next round of award recipients to help them in their efforts to make Akron safer.”

Mayor Horrigan intends to do a final round of VIP grants with applications launching in Spring of 2023. The last round will focus specifically on organizations providing support and reentry services for individuals with a history of violent behavior. 

To learn more about all of the organizations who have received funding through the VIP Grant Program, please visit www.akronohiorescue.gov/vip-grant.

Original source can be found here