Cedar Rapids strategy to reduce gun violence continues success as program transitions to Foundation 2

CEDAR RAPIDS — Management of Group Violence Intervention, the collaborative community gun violence reduction strategy, has transitioned over the last year, and Cedar Rapids officials say the effort continues to see success in keeping people alive and out of jail.

For the last year, nonprofit Foundation 2 Crisis Services has managed the outreach work of GVI. The strategy, launched in December 2019, aims to engage those who are at risk of being offenders or victims of gun violence and provide them with community supports.

This effort stemmed from funding given to the Creating Safe, Equitable and Thriving Communities Fund with the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation. The foundation assumed initial project management.

Last year, Rachel Rockwell’s departure from the community foundation, where she managed the initiative, raised some questions about the program’s long-term path going forward. At the time, Rockwell said the GVI project manager position needed a long-term home and funding.

In a presentation Tuesday to the Cedar Rapids City Council, Karla Twedt-Ball, the community foundation’s senior vice president of programs and community investment, thanked the city for the GVI Fund established through the Cedar Rapids Police Department. She said it will provide ongoing, sustainable funding.

Between November 2018 and October 2022, the city made six payments to the community foundation totaling $512,671.12, according to the Cedar Rapids Finance Department. The money has supported the SET Fund, and later GVI specifically as that initiative took off.

The community foundation was the catalyst around which community partners rallied to propel the effort forward, Twedt-Ball said, but “without Foundation 2, this wouldn’t have a home.”

Foundation 2 Chief Operating Officer Erin Langdon said law enforcement and GVI partners in 2022 attempted 75 custom notifications. This is the process through which law enforcement, street outreach and community members deliver a credible message against violence to at-risk individuals.

These notifications let people know that the activity they’re engaging in could be detrimental to themselves and carry consequences — legally or to their safety. GVI partners offer social services and community supports, and let the individuals know they’re not in trouble.

Langdon said the message is, “We want you safe, alive and out of prison.”

There are approximately 22 active clients at a given time working with case managers, Langdon said. Clients may receive support in finding stable employment, finding secure housing, pursuing educational opportunities or meeting court requirements.

Many of these young adults have not previously engaged with social service systems, so if they’re interested in therapy, for instance, staff work to streamline the point of entry to help them quickly access the help they need.

“The individuals that are at the highest risk for this violence or victimization are living in crisis, or their families are,” Langdon said.

Foundation 2 has four team members dedicated to GVI, Langdon said, most recently adding Lisa Jordan as project manager.

“Prevention is hard to measure sometimes and we know the work we’re doing, the families, the individuals, the young people … are being benefited in a positive way,” Langdon said.

The community foundation reported in December that the city has seen success with this strategy. In 2022, Cedar Rapids saw 115 shots fired through November — the same as through November 2021. That’s 29.5 percent lower than the same period in 2020, according to the community foundation.

The organization also reported the rate of gun violence among Black male youth ages 15 to 24, who are at the highest risk of being victims, also fell.

The National Network for Safe Communities developed the model that Cedar Rapids, Davenport and other communities have taken up around the U.S.

Langdon said Cedar Rapids’ initiative is exceeding the benchmark for people who are open to support and are actively engaging with the supports offered.

Currently, the GVI partners are working to recruit community members who have been impacted by violence or live in a neighborhood that’s been impacted to help become credible messengers against violence.

“Those are the people who are going to get through to a young person that is using gun violence to solve a problem or to communicate with somebody they might be feuding with,” Langdon said.

Council member Dale Todd, chair of the council’s Public Safety and Youth Services Committee, said the city has a violence reduction framework in place and now there’s a need to focus on its continued growth.

He said GVI has worked by law enforcement personnel sharing intelligence in real time with people who aren’t a member of the police department.

“In order to be proactive and save lives, that’s what you have to do,” Todd said. “We have been able to build those bonds of trust.”

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