$14M To Fund Violence Prevention--Act Now!

The Chicago City Council is days away from voting on how to spend millions of surplus funds. Low participation in the city’s property tax rebate program has resulted in a surplus of $14 million. We are joining community organizations across the city and calling on aldermen to use this unique opportunity to fund essential violence prevention programs, which invest in our youth and curb the violence devastating our communities.

Take action now: tell your alderman to vote to invest every dollar of the property tax rebate program’s surplus on violence prevention initiatives.

Alderman Lopez (15th Ward) has proposed an ordinance to spend this money on a comprehensive violence prevention and youth development strategy. This proposal would use funds to:

• Provide trauma-informed case management and counseling programs for at-risk youth;

• Extend the One Summer Chicago Summer Youth Employment Program to fund year-round jobs;

• Expand mentoring initiatives to provide positive social support to at-risk youth.

Mayor Emanuel has proposed his own spending plan, but it does not invest this money into programs that will make our communities safer.  We need the City Council to reject the Mayor’s plan and instead invest this money into our most pressing needs – protecting the safety of our youth and our neighborhoods.

Take action now: tell your alderman to put our children and our communities first by supporting Alderman Lopez’s proposal to invest in violence prevention programs.

We cannot afford to miss this opportunity to invest in building a safe Chicago.

After you contact your alderman, join us this Thursday.  On February 16, numerous community organizations from across Chicago will gather on the second floor of City Hall, 121 N LaSalle at 10:30 a.m. to call on our aldermen to invest in violence prevention. We need you to stand up at this press conference to show City Council how important it is to fund violence prevention now.