Letter to the NY Governor and State Legislature

Dear Governor Cuomo,

We, the undersigned community gun violence prevention organizations and survivors of community-based gun violence as members of the New York State Fund Peace Coalition call on

Governor Cuomo to stand up for gun violence prevention in New York by supporting the allocation of

$1.15 billion of the $23.7 billion of funds designated to from the America Rescue Plan directly to community-based gun violence prevention organizations and programs to support ending gun violence in New York State.

 For decades, gun violence has been the leading cause of death for Black males ages 15-34, and the second-leading cause of death for Latino males and Black females of the same age. COVID-19 has fueled the highest U.S. gun homicide rates in over 20 years, disproportionately impacting the communities most affected by gun violence. COVID-19 has brought new levels of trauma and despair to these same communities and helped bring historic spikes in violence to already vulnerable neighborhoods. This is a racial equity and public health issue that cannot continue to be ignored.

 In order to address the national public health crisis, the federal government recently enacted the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP) with significant portions allocated for city, county, and state support. Unfortunately, those of us in the most impacted communities cannot begin to fully recover from the fiscal and public safety impact of COVID-19 without reducing New York state’s increase in gun violence.

 On Monday, May 10th, the Biden administration released ARP guidance. It specifically identifies community violence intervention as an eligible use of the $350 billion of state and local aid. The American Rescue Plan states, “specifically, recipients may use payments from the Fiscal Recovery Funds to facilitate access to resources that improve health outcomes, including services that connect residents with health care resources and public assistance programs and build healthier environments, such as: ...evidence-based community violence intervention programs to prevent violence and mitigate the increase in violence during the pandemic” (p. 22). Its allocation of $195.3 billion from Section 9901 “The Coronavirus State and Local Recovery Funds” gives New York State $23.7 billion in aid and the power to support proven, evidence-based public health solutions to reducing gun violence.

 To effectively reduce the violence in our most impacted communities, we are asking that $1.15 billion (5%) of these recovery funds be invested into targeted programs to address the reduction of gun violence in our directly impacted communities. Funding these grassroots programs at the community level will not only decrease violent crime, but will also provide jobs and economic development to areas that have suffered from high rates of unemployment during the pandemic, which your leadership aided in overcoming. Some effective programs in New York State include the implementation of the evidence based, Cure Violence model of violence intervention and prevention.

 Despite the increase in gun violence with the COVID-19 pandemic, New York City as recently as March, remains the safest big city in the nation. Prior to the devastating effects of COVID-19 the state of New York was tied with Massachusetts for the lowest rate of gun related deaths nationally. This is possible as a result of investments in Violence Intervention programs, most notably New York City’s Crisis Management System (CMS), SNUG, and Kings Against Violence Initiative (KAVI). Through the unwavering work by community based violence intervention programs, faith based support networks, Hospital Intervention and Support services, and grassroot organizations across the state there has been a reduction in gun violence by 58% since 2015.

 We strongly recommend targeting resources to organizations that are committed and have a proven track record of addressing violence through intervention and prevention. Since ARP funds can be used over the course of the next three years (until 2024), we believe that strategic investments can be made to provide multiple years of funding for life-saving programs that have and will continue to make a significant impact on the health of communities that have been most seriously hit by both the pandemic and the interrelated public health crisis of gun violence.

 We stand with you as supporters and partners to help ensure that the much-needed emergency federal funds are directed toward efforts to address the behavioral, mental, and public health needs of some of our most underserved and traumatized populations.

Sincerely,

Community Gun Violence Survivors

Linette Townsley, Jamaica, NY

Sharon Plummer, Brooklyn, NY

Amy Ellenbogen, Brooklyn, NY

Caroline Mclean, Brooklyn, NY

Rosemary Speed, Buffalo, NY

Michelle Barnes-Anderson, Brooklyn , NY

Jeanette Brown, Brooklyn, NY John King, Brooklyn, NY

Rashawn Christopher, Brooklyn, NY Gwendolyn Halsey, New York Aniyah Halsey, New York

James Halsey, New York

Monica A Cassaberry, Brooklyn, NY Keon Berry, Brooklyn, NY

Ms. J. K. Hammond, Brooklyn, NY

Jason Rodriguez, New York, NY

Maxine E. Lewis, Brooklyn, NY

Vincent Lynch, Jamaica, NY

Sheena Tucker, Queens, NY

Helen Boddie-Khan, Hollis, NY

Ruby Millner, Brooklyn, NY

Stacie Shannon, Queens, NY

Theresa White, Bronx, NY

Geena Davis, Jamaica, NY

Chris Foye, Brooklyn, NY

Marie Bernard, Brooklyn, NY

Nisha Brown, Queens, NY

Tyler Butler, Brooklyn, NY

Keith Glasgow, Brooklyn, NY

Theodore Samuel, Brooklyn, NY

Tasharah Samuel, Brooklyn, NY

Teshona Samuel, Brooklyn, NY

Quiarah Hammond, Queens, NY

Judy Alexander, Brooklyn, NY

Joan Rougier, Brooklyn, NY

Kurt Stanford, Brooklyn, NY

Tyrell Smalls, Brooklyn, NY

Shelly Cadogan, Brooklyn, NY

Earl Jeffrey, Brooklyn, NY

Alice Millner, Brooklyn

Tyhera Washington, Bronx, NY

Julius McGleen, Brooklyn, NY

Petra Fraser, Jamaica, NY

Gale Nash, Brooklyn, NY

Alice Mckay, Brooklyn, NY

Ebony Millner, Brooklyn, NY

Maisha Thomas, Brooklyn, NY

Justin Napper, Harlem, NY

Donnamae Macmillan, Brooklyn, NY

Pat Glenn, Brooklyn, NY

Alison Wells, Buffalo, NY

Tasharah Samuel, Brooklyn, NY

Jacqueline T. Wells, Buffalo, NY

Tamika Sealy, Brooklyn

Ethel Christopher, Brooklyn

Kyle Assoon, Brooklyn, NY

Michelle Nicola Allen, Brooklyn, NY

Kwesi Alleyne, Brooklyn, NY

Heather Day, Brooklyn, NY

Organizations

Kings Against Violence Initiatives, New York My Finest Self LLC, Hollis, NY

100SUITS, Queens, NY

Village Life Foundation, Brooklyn, NY

Where Do We Go From Here Inc, Jamaica, NY

Father’s Alive In The Hood Inc., Jamaica, NY

Queens Baptist Church, Queens Village, NY

Flatbush Mixtape, Brooklyn, NY

VOICE Buffalo, Buffalo, NY

Penn and Perry Inc., Staten Island, NY

Akeal Christopher Community Center Inc, Brooklyn, NY

Gangstas Making Astronomical Community Changes Inc (G-MACC ), Brooklyn, NY

Triumph After Tragedy Alternative Resources Inc., Brooklyn, NY

67th Precinct Clergy Council, Inc. “The GodSquad”, Brooklyn, NY

BronxConnect, New York City,

Release the Grip, New York City

Carlton Locksley Bennett Foundation Inc., Brooklyn, NY

Rohan Levy Foundation, New York, NY

Not Another Child, Inc., Queens, NY

King of Kings Foundation, Inc., Jamaica, NY

Street Corner Resources, New York, NY

Gunsdown Lifeup NYC Health and Hospitals at Lincoln Hospital, Bronx, NY

P.E.A.C.E.,Inc. (Parents Encouraging Accountability and Closure for Everyone), Buffalo, NY

Youth Over Guns, New York, NY

Man Up! Inc., Brooklyn, NY

P.E.A.C.E INC., Buffalo, NY

New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, Brooklyn, NY

The Gathering for Justice, New York, NY

Six Winners - Harlem Hospital, New York City

Rohan Levy Foundation, Brooklyn, NY

L.I.F.E Camps Incorporated, Jamaica, NY

Melquain Jatelle Anderson Foundation, Brooklyn, NY

Carlton Locksley Bennett Foundation, Brooklyn, NY

Queens Royal Priest Hood, Inc, Queens, NY

Community Capacity Development Inc., New York, NY

The Chris S. Owens Foundation, Brooklyn, NY

Brooklyn Center for Quality Life, Brooklyn, NY

Kellan Louis John foundation, Brooklyn, NY

Giant Thinking, Brooklyn, NY

Faith in New York, New York

City Mothers for Safe Cities, Brooklyn, NY

Conspiring for Good, Brooklyn, NY

Wounded and Alive, New York, NY, NY

A Brooklyn Child - The Justin Hackley Foundation, Brooklyn, NY

...and growing!