The Creating Safe, Equitable & Thriving Communities Fund was established in 2018 through a partnership with the City of Cedar Rapids, Linn County, and the Cedar Rapids Community School District to address inter-relational factors that lead to youth violence in Cedar Rapids. It funds programs that approach systemic causes of economic, racial and academic disparities and aims to avoid, reduce or stop high risk behaviors that can lead to involvement with the criminal justice system.
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ReSET 2020 Youth & Family Challenge
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When the pandemic hit Iowa in March, there was some hope that social distancing guidelines would slow the tide of youth violence in Cedar Rapids. Like many communities across the nation, we quickly saw the opposite happen. With school and youth programs cancelled, and with large portions of our community facing economic uncertainties, violence continues to spike.
Like everything else, SET funded programs and projects were postponed or cancelled in the spring because of COVID-19. SET grantees along with local nonprofit partners, government, social services, and volunteers, have launched the “ReSET 2020 Youth & Family Challenge” summer outreach program as a way of adapting their work and helping families and individuals navigate the new realities and added stress that come with it.
The
ReSET 2020 Youth & Family Challenge
includes programming designed for youth and families most vulnerable to community violence. The efforts include anti-violence messaging from community leaders, regular check-ins from outreach teams, care packages, porch talks and incentives and awards for participating in the program.
Approximately 60 families were identified using a set of four risk factors that included previous exposure to violence in the school, household or neighborhood; previous behaviors that can lead to involvement with the criminal justice system; previous school suspensions, expulsions and referrals to law enforcement; and having family members — including adults or other youths — who are or have been involved in the criminal justice system.
Read More about the ReSET 2020 Youth and Family challenge in this Little Village article
here
.
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Youth Violence Prevention: A Public Health Approach
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In 2018, the Together! Healthy Linn Steering Committee, which guides and oversees the Community Health Assessment and Community Health Improvement Plan process, prioritized three strategic issues to improve the health of Linn County residents based on the results of the 2018 Community Health Assessment. The three priorities identified were mental health, obesity, and safety.
The Safety Action Team developed a goal and three strategies to move forward, and held two Community Conversations on Safety and Violence in 2019 and 2020. From those community conversations, four themes emerged as opportunities for the Linn County community to focus on to improve community safety:
- Capacity building – funding, diverse workforce, research based learning
- Engagement and mobilization of neighborhoods and community
- Establishing trust with community partners: Law enforcement and social service organizations
- Youth serving organizations – schools, institutions, youth programs
During the community conversations, the concept of aligning community violence prevention efforts using
Comprehensive Community Violence Reduction Strategies
was introduced. These are research-based interventions supported by the
National Network for Safe Communities
. Moving forward, aligning and streamlining community violence prevention efforts are of utmost importance, as the SET funded programs and the safety strategic issue groups have the same goal. If we approach these complex issues together with a unified approach, we can be more impactful in action and progress. COVID-19 has dramatically changed the way we interact with others and implement programs and has brought visibility to existing health inequities. It has had significant impact to our community in ways we may not have imagined. We have an opportunity to work together to implement research based strategies to inform community action. Additionally, community receptiveness to working on community violence, equity, and racial justice issues lends further need to approach this issue with a unified approach.
Moving forward, Linn County Public Health will continue to work closely with the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation to encourage a comprehensive approach to community violence reduction. We will collaborate to provide updates on progress and funding opportunities, and will meet regularly for learning and action plan updates. For the groups that formed during the community conversations in December and February, we plan to re-convene and ask them to provide a deliverable to inform action, such as research findings, recommendations, or a presentation. We hope to have an event in the fall where the groups can report out their findings and progress in conjunction with a film showing or featured speaker.
We trust community partners will continue to engage in safety and violence reduction efforts. Everyone is encouraged to participate in upcoming July and August planning sessions to learn about research-based strategies for violence prevention and connect with organizations actively engaged in community violence prevention work. We look forward to sustained community engagement in the important work of preventing violence and promoting safety in Linn County.
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CREATING SAFE, EQUITABLE AND THRIVING COMMUNITIES FUND
Application Deadline: Friday, September 18, 2020
The Creating Safe, Equitable and Thriving (SET) Communities Fund Planning Sessions for 2021 grant funding are coming up soon. Because this grant program is seeking to address complex issues, we recognize that potential applicants might benefit from exploring effective and promising solutions and community connections. We will hold two planning sessions in July and August to help foster learning and collaborative efforts between public, private, grassroots and nonprofit organizations. The dates for the sessions are
:
July 24th, 11:00 a.m. – 1 p.m.
August 14th, 11:00 a.m.
–
1 p.m.
To learn more about the SET Fund, click
here.
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Iowa Women's Foundation
The Iowa Women's Foundation (IWF) is now accepting applicants to the Building Community Child Care Solutions Fund (CCSF). The funds in the CCSF are invested in organizations and institutions focused on innovative and sustainable strategies/solutions ensuring access to affordable quality child care that decreases the work force gap and ultimately increases women's economic security across Iowa. This fund can be used to support community based solutions such as: building and expanding a child care center, maintaining and increasing child care entrepreneurs, establishing before and after school programs, innovatively addressing child care for 2nd and 3rd shift workers and creating businesses and child care partnerships. Interested applicants should submit a Letter of Interest (LOI) by July 31
.
Click
here
to learn more.
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Questions, comments, or ideas for future SET Newsletters, please contact:
Rachel Rockwell
SET Program Officer
319.200.4007
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About the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation
Through professional philanthropic services, strategic investments, and community leadership, the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation connects donors who care with causes that matter. The Community Foundation is a public, nonprofit organization with assets totaling more than $187 million and over 1,000 different charitable funds, large and small, established by individuals, families, nonprofit organizations and businesses to benefit Linn County, Iowa.
Our vision:
To be a trusted partner in charitable giving, improving the quality of life in our community…forever.
Our mission:
To help donors give in meaningful ways, to strengthen nonprofits, and to provide leadership that supports a vibrant community. For more information on the Community Foundation, visit
www.gcrcf.org
or visit us on Facebook.
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