Local Clergyman Asks City of Chicago To Invest In Violence Prevention Programs

Bishop Larry D. Trotter, senior pastor of Sweet Holy Spirit Church. Photo provided by Bishop Larry D. Trotter
Bishop Larry D. Trotter, senior pastor of Sweet Holy Spirit Church. Photo provided by Bishop Larry D. Trotter

Local Clergyman Asks City of Chicago To Invest In Violence Prevention Programs

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

During a recent press conference, Bishop Larry D. Trotter, senior pastor of Sweet Holy Spirit Church, expressed his support for the Fund Peace violence prevention campaign and called on the Mayor of Chicago, Lori Lightfoot, to commit to providing city funding for violence prevention programs.

“At the end of the day, we know that the Mayor and Police Superintendent Johnson, have done a good job and we applaud them but we feel like there should be more done. There are violence prevention programs that can be implemented in our communities which will take some of the violence out of the street versus having no programs at all and increasing police which is not going to solve the problem,” said Trotter.

Fund Peace is a collaborative initiative that has brought together dozens of Chicago organizations that are all united in accomplishing the one main goal of reducing violence in the city. Some organizations include, Good Kids Mad City, Metropolitan Family Services, I AM ABLE, the Faith Community of Saint Sabina, and READI Chicago. The Fund Peace campaign is being led by inVEST Chicago and LIVE FREE Chicago.

“Despite our best efforts, we’re still experiencing way too much gun violence and we’re not on track to get anywhere near other big cities like New York and Los Angeles,” said Minister Ciera Walker, executive director of LIVE FREE Chicago.

Bishop Trotter, along with the entirety of the Fund Peace partners, is working to build support for an ordinance sponsored by Aldermen Harry Osterman, Roderick Sawyer, and Chris Taliaferro that aims to establish the Mayor’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention and commit $50 million in annual city funding for violence prevention programs.

“We are looking for the City of Chicago to support us and help us accomplish much more over the next three years then what we’ve seen in the past three years,” said Trotter. “We need the Mayor and the City Council to consider this as a high priority investment. You know they give money to everything else and I’m saying that they ought to help us with a new concept and in making new strides for violence prevention.”

Aside from pushing for the establishment and funding of the Mayor’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention, anti-violence groups associated with Fund Peace have set a goal of raising $200 million per year from public and private sources to help reduce violence with prevention and intervention programs created by local groups.

Many of the organizations have already piloted their violence prevention programs in the communities that they specifically serve through grants from the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities.

Bishop Trotter said that he is hopeful that the Mayor and City Council will support the Fund Peace initiative and that he knows Mayor Lightfoot to be “very compassionate about the safety of children of Chicago.”

To learn more about Fund Peace, visit www.fundpeacechicago.org.

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