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The average outreach worker in Chicago is a 44-year old Black man who's been incarcerated, who got involved with gangs and the criminal justice system around the age 13, according to Papachristos. Twenty-five percent of outreach workers are Latino, and about 20% are women, he said, explaining that credible messengers can have a unique impact on the ability to reach disenfranchised members of low-income communities who are often out of reach by law enforcement and city officials.

\"When we look at their lived experience, they have long histories of involvement and victimization. They've been victimized when they were young. They have a long history of involvement with gangs. They've been incarcerated and they largely have lived in the same community their entire life. So they're quite familiar with what gun violence looks like in their neighborhood. They know the families, they know the people, they know the neighborhoods, they know the parks, they know the stories, and they're part of those stories,\" Papachristos said.

\"This is the workforce that is charged with tackling gun violence,\" he said, \"and in some ways, they are the only workforce that can reach people that are at risk and bring them into these sorts of services.\"

He added, \"The question is not about, 'Did they reduce violence by 50 or 60%,' but rather, 'How many lives were saved today?'\"

Tio Hardiman, executive director of Violence Interrupters Inc, an anti-violence program focused on combating the culture of violence, uses peace circle and conflict resolution trainings to help at-risk youth de-escalate disagreements and avoid deadly retaliation.

\"The violence interrupter trainings that I facilitate is very important because we have an opportunity to actually help young men and educate them on how to think on a higher level. That's why the training is so important. We focus on the do's and don'ts of conflict resolution and gang mediation,\" Hardiman said. \"The work of credible messengers is very impactful because it's about saving lives. Last year, in 2021, Violence Interrupters Inc mediated around 60 conflicts that could have turned deadly.\"

\"PHOTO:
Christopher Dilts/Bloomberg via Getty Images, FILE
PHOTO: Activist Tio Hardiman speaks into a megaphone during an anti-violence march in Chicago, Aug. 2, 2018. The protest's goal was to bring attention to the city's rising gun violence issues.
>

For Patricia Hillard, a West Garfield Park outreach worker, violence interruption work is about meeting people where they are.

That means doing outreach work on \"Heroin Highway,\" a stretch of West Garfield Park battered by the opioid crisis. It’s the same area Hillard said she dwelled when she was addicted to drugs. After years of sobriety, she said she found a new purpose in helping others.

Now a salaried employee with the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago, Hillard said that the residents she mentors trusts her, because she was once them.

\"I was with them. I was with the drug dealer. I was the person out here running to get drugs. I did it all, and I survived,\" Hillard said. \"A lot of the guys around here, who are doing the shooting and the sliding, they know me. So I've actually been able to intervene with guns drawn.\"

\"PHOTO:
Bilgin S. Sasmaz/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images, FILE
PHOTO: President Joe Biden greets staff of the Community Capacity Development organization during an event to discuss gun violence strategies, at PS111 Jacob Blackwell, on Feb. 3, 2022, in the Queens Borough of New York.
>

Investment in gun violence interruption programs is taking shape in major cities and states around the country.

President Joe Biden showed his support for community-led anti-violence programs during his visit to New York City last Thursday, where he discussed his and Mayor Eric Adams' plans to tackle gun crimes. Biden’s Build Back Better plan proposes a $5 billion dollar investment in community-led programs, but that legislation remains stalled in Congress.

Papachristos said financial investment in street outreach as a profession could have major implications for the reduction of violence over time.

\"You can look at any map of any city, and the areas that have the highest levels of homicide also have the highest levels of poverty, dropout rates, low birth weight, exposure to toxins like lead. ... It's not that most poor people are criminals. It's just that crime tends to concentrate by design in communities that lack resources and opportunities,\" Papachristos said. \"It’s vital right now more than ever, especially as you're getting the attention from the White House and the State House, to find out how do we develop this workforce? What tools do they need?\"

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