Nashville Mayor John Cooper announced last week that $150,000 would be going to nonprofits that offered violence reduction strategies. A nonprofit could receive up to $5,000 for their work; the Community Safety Partnership (CSP) Advisory Board will issue recommendations for who receives the grant awards throughout this month and August.
In a press release, Cooper asserted that this would allow communities to achieve safety solutions tailored to their local needs, particularly for gun violence.
“Community safety requires a community effort,” said Cooper. “This work takes all of us, supporting one another and learning from each other. And it takes Metro government, championing that response and investing in the strategies that work best for our neighborhoods.”
Metro Nashville City Councilwoman and CSP board member Jennifer Gamble asserted that this approach would make communities safer.
“Investing in and supporting the groups on the front lines of creating community-based solutions for violence reduction will make our city safer,” said Gamble.
A leader on the advisory board and previous committee vice-chair for the mayor’s Policing Policy Commission, Sharon Roberson, explained that this would be an initial round of funding open to grassroots organizations.
“This first round of funding is intended to support grassroots organizations working to enhance community safety and reduce violence,” said Roberson.
Cooper launched funding for the community safety initiative in March. As The Tennessee Star reported, Cooper organized 11 community members in May to form the CSP Advisory Board. Cooper tasked their group with providing funding recommendations for over $1.5 million in grants within the CSP Fund.
The CSP Fund has a total of $3 million. On top of that, the city council voted to add $1 million last month for a pilot program in North Nashville called “Cure Violence.” The program uses a violence interruption approach, using mediation and targeting high-risk individuals and groups to prevent violence. It also rallies community support and response when violence does occur.
The city plans on disbursing more funds in August. Those will be larger implementation grants, ranging from $5,000 to $250,000 or more.
Applicants for this first round of grants must present a certified audit from the most recent fiscal year.
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Corinne Murdock is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and the Star News Network. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Mayor Cooper Press Conference” by Nashville.gov.
Why even pretend, Cooper. Skip the charade and just give the money to your supporters in those do nothing groups. Must be about time to raise property taxes another 34% to further fund this nonsense.
Name one dime spent on “nonprofits” or “community organizations” that has actually benefited anyone it was allegedly to help? All this is is government redistribution, in its simplest form. Obama put this con game on steroids. Especially each time Eric Holder sued the banks and big corporations for bogus matters. The targets simply turned over billions of dollars to the DOJ, to make things go away. Holder then had the sole authority to do whatever he pleased with that money. He, and the guy he was wing man for, dumped it into all these radical groups. No paper trail, no evidence.
You are correct.
When will Tennessee taxpayers and voters WAKE UP to the phony causes and political bandaid “solutions”(?) that Democrats(socialists) keep using OUR money to pay for ?!?!
What a typical socialist response – throw more money at the problem and think it will be solved. And of course the problems don’t go away because they’re not caused by poverty or lack of money, but by following an ideology based on envy, greed and power, and ignoring the laws, the ethics and morals necessary for a society to be peaceful and prosper. Their Golden Rule is those who collect the gold, rule.
Socialism and communism, so dearly loved by the mayor and his Metro council minions, are only concerned with the advancement of crass materialism and their own selfish desires.
Exactly
Nonsense makes sense to stupid people. Lead on Cooper.
Hey Mini Cooper, how about let the Police do their job? Time to stop coddling the criminal class, and take that simp DA Funk with you. #VotetheBumsOut!
Mediation?? With “high-risk” groups and individuals?? We are not in a hostage situation, however much the Libs would like us to believe that we are. BS like that is why , as another article mentions, 61% of states have become 2nd Amendment sanctuaries.
To the worst mayor in Nashville’s history: JUST ENFORCE THE DAMN LAW YOU MORON! Stop buying votes with the taxpayers money. We did not have a tremendous crime increase until Commie Cooper and his comrades started running the city, your removal from office probably would be the largest help in crime reduction.
If we just pay the ransom they wont hurt us? We cannot fund our way out of the destruction of good law enforcement.
What???🤷♀️