CHARLOTTE, N.C. — An anti-violence initiative is getting a significant boost in funding thanks to the Wells Fargo Foundation and GreenLight Fund Charlotte.
The City of Charlotte announced Tuesday the Alternatives to Violence program (ATV) was granted $1.2 million total from both Wells Fargo and GreenLight; $1 million came from the bank, while $200,000 came from GreenLight. The funds were accepted during the city council's business meeting, and the funds will be used to support the program's ongoing evaluation and capacity building.
“Everyone in Charlotte – young and older – deserves a community free from violence,” said Michelle Lee, head of Regional Banking for Wells Fargo. “Wells Fargo is committed to supporting efforts and organizations like Alternatives to Violence that lift marginalized communities and communities of color, and that restore justice and advance racial equity.”
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Demond Richardson, a Social Impact and Sustainability consultant with Wells Fargo, said “I was born and raised on the Beatties Ford Road Corridor, so it is especially meaningful to me that we support the City of Charlotte and their Alternatives to Violence program, which is focused on decreasing all types of violence in our local community.”
This grant is part of a larger $10 million commitment by Wells Fargo to support nonpartisan research on violence prevention within local communities, and to fund pilot programs in those communities that also look at school safety enhancements.
“GreenLight Fund Charlotte has been exploring effective models to address violence prevention and we are incredibly proud to make this co-investment to support community safety. We believe solutions co-created with residents can be most effective and have seen the proven, measurable benefits of this program which directs resources to neighborhood residents to be their own agents of change,” said Carrie Cook, GreenLight Fund Charlotte Executive Director.
ATV is part of the city's SAFE Charlotte initiative, which includes violence interruption, hospital-based violence intervention and $1 million in grants to local community-based organizations. Affordable housing and employment pathways are part of the larger initiative as well.
The program will employ violence interrupters and outreach workers to work with the people who are at the highest risk for perpetrating, or becoming a victim of, violent crime, talk to them about the costs of violence and help them to obtain the social services they need such as job training and drug treatment.
