Violence Prevention Programs

For several years gun violence in Neighborhood Planning Units V, R & S was some of the highest in the city of Atlanta.  To address the increase in violence, the Cure Violence model was chosen as the right evidence-based intervention.

Cure Violence envisions a world without violence. The Cure Violence Global model is guided by a clear understanding that violence is a health issue, and that individuals and communities can change for the better, that community members and strategic partnerships are keys to success. The mission of the program is to end gun violence and create safer communities for youth and families.

Cure Violence employs street and hospital level intervention techniques based on a public health approach.  The Cure Violence team uses experience and acumen to prioritize neighborhood hotspots and implement grassroots, street-level interventions. CHRIS 180 interrupts violence before it escalates by:1) Interrupting the transmission of retaliatory violence from the victim to others; 2) Identifying individuals at the highest risk of transmitting violence and engaging them to change their thinking; and 3) Changing community norms through events, counseling and education.

CHRIS 180’s Cure Violence Atlanta program does this work by hiring trusted individuals who are residents the communities we serve. Trusted Individuals are people who are influential with the folks at highest risk of committing shootings. They are able to build trusting relationships with the drivers of violence in a community, due to their own past experiences in street life.

CHRIS 180’s Impact on Violence Reduction
CHRIS 180 has operated the Cure Violence Atlanta program in NPU-V since March 2020, resulting in a 50% decrease in violent crimes in that area.

Stemming from the success of our first site, CHRIS 180’s Cure Violence Atlanta program expanded to neighborhoods  in NPUs R & S. Since 2023, the expansion team has enabled CHRIS 180 to help more youth, families and individuals with violence interruption services while addressing the disparities that often leaves people vulnerable to acts of violence.

Trauma Response Network
Shootings in a park. Gun violence. Fear of retaliation. House fires. When these events happen, they not only impact the people directly involved, but the entire community. Following a traumatic event, those involved often feel helpless, fearful, angry and confused. They may find themselves in a situation for which they are totally unprepared. The CHRIS 180 Trauma Response Network  is an opportunity for resident and stakeholder volunteers to support individuals and the community after a tragic event has occurred. TRN provides trauma-informed care and trauma trainings in the community.

Healing Circles
Healing Circles are safe spaces that bring people together to strengthen neighborhoods and share concerns to bring healing. They occur at least twice a month and provide an opportunity for attendees to build relationships through sharing and listening, provide long term support, and work on solutions. Healing Circles take place in safe spaces throughout our City of Atlanta Neighborhood Planning Unit (NPU) service areas including Metropolitan Library, Barack and Michelle Obama Academy, Year Up, Dunbar Elementary School and The Reverend Orange Oakland City Park among others.

Community Involvement
CHRIS 180 works with community partners to celebrate youth achievement and family advancement. Programs and activities include participating in the annual National Night Out events, collaborative community responses, resident trainings, service provision engagements, call to action meetings in response to a shooting or homicide as well as excursions for youth and their families. We address disparities through our violence intervention services in full understanding that to address violence, we must address the needs of those exposed to violence and work to ease the communal plight in respect of each person’s humanity and in hope of each child’s future.

For additional information contact Haynes Morrison, Vice President of Community Initiatives at CHRIS 180 .

The CHRIS 180 Teen Violence Reduction program (TVR) is a youth-focused initiative for teens ages 12–17. TVR was established to address the biggest gap in violence prevention services and strives to reach youth to divert them from joining a gang, becoming involved in violent crime and/or losing their lives to violence.

TVR promotes resiliency for youth exposed to violence through policy and research to advance promising practices in healthcare, education, law enforcement and in the community to help children and youth heal and thrive to reach their optimal potential. Working with violence prevention advocates and educators and in concert with CHRIS 180’s violence prevention program in schools , TVR works to break the cycle of violence by developing programs to prevent violence and promote healthy and safe communities.

What We Do
CHRIS 180’s Teen Violence Reduction program aims to prevent violence against and among youth by linking research to practice, building local infrastructure to support interventions, and enhancing academic and community partnerships.

TVR seeks to build relationships with community-based groups, residents, elected officials, and law enforcement. Its goal is to educate community stakeholders about the program, to identify resources, opportunities for collaboration and to assist community mobilization efforts around the issue of violence prevention. TVR uses community organizing techniques to engage in activities that will help change thinking and norms, so that reacting with violence is no longer an acceptable or expected behavior.

Case management aids in solving participants’ current problems, to help facilitate positive change and to introduce alternatives to violence. TVR assists youth by connecting them with CHRIS 180 programs and other service providers to achieve individual goals such as employment, education, family reunification, trauma treatment, drug or alcohol use cessation, criminal issues and life skills.