Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, an arm of Everytown for Gun Safety, has announced the launch of a $25 million fund dedicated to supporting community-based violence intervention programs.

The Everytown Community Safety Fund doubles the organization's commitment to its community gun violence grant program and will support a hundred local organizations — up from the current sixty — over the next five years, with more than $1 million in 2021 grants to be awarded to ten organizations in the coming weeks. The fund initially will support two types of grants: long-term "support grants" that provide intervention programs with funding, peer engagement, and capacity building; and smaller "sustainer grants" that provide a lifeline to help programs sustain their efforts during an unexpected event or crisis. Recipients of support grants will participate in quarterly peer networking calls, attend an annual convening, consult with Everytown staff, and receive tailored capacity-building training and access to Everytown's data tools and research.

Organizations currently supported by Everytown for Gun Safety include 414Life (Milwaukee), California Partnership for Safe Communities (Oakland), Faith in Action Alabama (Birmingham), Metropolitan Peace Initiatives (Chicago), and the TraRon Center (Washington, D.C.).

"Local organizations fighting gun violence are used to doing more with less, but the past year has brought challenges that have directly affected our capacity to serve our communities," said TraRon Center founder and president Ryane B. Nickens. "Even as we increased the scope of our work to help fight the spread of COVID-19, we've been responding to a sharp increase in gun violence — one with a particularly heavy toll on young people — all amid an uncertain funding environment. Everytown's support has been a lifeline during this turbulent year, and the expansion of its grant program is outstanding news for cities like the District of Columbia."

(Photo credit: TraRon Center)