The BUILD Program in Los Angeles Awarded $100,000 Grant from The Everytown Community Safety Fund to Sustain Critical Gun Violence Prevention Work

Everytown Will Also Provide Strategic Support Including Peer Convening, Capacity-Building Training, Data & Research Access and Support from Everytown’s Volunteer Networks

Los Angeles — Today, Everytown Community Safety Fund, part of Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, announced $100,000 in funding for The Build Program in Los Angeles to sustain their work and better position them to access federal funding. The grant comes as part of Everytown Community Safety Fund’s $1.5 million in new Support Grants going to 15 organizations in cities across the country.

With persistent gun violence continuing to impact cities nationwide, community-based violence intervention programs like The Build Program will play a crucial role in addressing the country’s gun violence crisis. With this new grant, the Everytown Community Safety Fund is extending an immediate and flexible lifeline to community-based violence intervention programs to ensure their continuity as they scale their efforts to meet the urgent need in their communities and better position them for success when applying for local, state, and federal support at a time when many of these programs have been stretched far past capacity.

“We’ve been working effectively to prevent gun violence and its aftermath around the country for decades and this support means a great deal to that work moving forward,” said Dr. Aquil Basheer, Founder and Executive Director of The BUILD Program. “This grant will allow us to increase our efforts on the ground in Los Angeles and I’m excited to watch this partnership with Everytown flourish.

“Gun violence continues to rip communities and families apart, and here in Los Angeles, we will do everything we can to combat this growing crisis,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. “These tragedies won’t end without the tireless, significant work of community groups like BUILD. With support from organizations like Everytown Community Safety Fund, BUILD will be able to double down on its efforts — creating safer communities for all Angelenos.”

“Community-based violence intervention organizations, like BUILD, deserve real investment in their work to allow their decades of progress,” said Greg Jackson, Executive Director of the Community Justice Action Fund. “This new grant will allow them to continue to sustain and scale their efforts to reduce gun violence.” 

“Our cities are in the midst of a gun violence public health crisis. Fortunately, community-based violence intervention groups are on the frontlines doing life-saving work every day. Everytown is uniquely positioned to support their mission, so we will continue to do so in every way we can,” said Michael-Sean Spence, senior director of Community Safety Initiatives at Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund and creator of the Everytown Community Safety Fund. “With this investment, the Everytown Community Safety Fund will provide critical resources to programs accomplishing important work in their communities across the country and help them sustain their life-saving efforts.”

Since 2019, the Everytown Community Safety Fund (The Fund), the largest national initiative solely dedicated to fueling the life-saving work of community-based violence intervention programs in cities nationwide, has granted $7.15 million in support of 72 community-based violence intervention organizations implementing promising strategies, like street outreach, hospital-based violence interventions and youth development & counseling, in more than 57 American cities. Support Grants, currently the Fund’s largest grant offering, provides grant recipients $100,000, in two disbursements over two years, as well as access to the Fund’s quarterly calls, peer convenings, capacity-building trainers, national conferences, as well as advocacy support from Everytown staff, Moms Demand Action volunteers and national partners. 

The Fund will support this cohort through two grant offerings:

• Long-term support grants which provide community-based violence intervention programs with funding, peer engagement and capacity building
• Smaller sustainer grants, which provide select programs with a lifeline to help them sustain a continuing gun violence prevention effort for one year.

Grantee selection follows a rigorous process administered by Everytown Community Safety Fund staff, as well as Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers and an external review panel of experts from across the country, including the Everytown Community Safety Fund Advisory Board, made up of advocates, academics, survivors and city leaders from diverse backgrounds who recognize the critical role community-based violence intervention organizations serve as a component of a comprehensive approach to reducing gun violence.

Below is a list of community-based gun violence intervention organizations currently supported by Everytown. Organizations receiving their second support grant through the Everytown Community Safety Fund are noted with an asterisk.

2022-2024 Support Grantees

1. Institute for Nonviolence Chicago, Chicago, IL*
2. YouTurn Omaha, Omaha, NE*
3. GRASP, Denver, CO
4. Focused Interruption, Madison, WI
5. The TraRon Center, Washington, DC*
6. Yaay Me Inc., Washington, D.C.
7. Not Another Child, Brooklyn, NY
8. CHRIS 180, Atlanta, GA*
9. Faith in Action Alabama, Birmingham, AL*
10. Circle of Brotherhood, Miami, FL
11. Turning the Tide, North Charleston, SC
12. Big Mama’s Safe House, San Antonio, TX
13. YouthAlive!, Oakland, CA*
14. Nevada Partners, Las Vegas, NV
15. The Build Program, Los Angeles, CA

2021-2023 Support Grantees

1. Advance Peace, Richmond, Stockton & Sacramento, CA
2. AIM4Peace, Kansas City, MO 
3. The Buffalo Peacemakers, Buffalo, NY 
4. Detroit Public Safety Foundation – Ceasefire Detroit, Detroit, MI 
5. Community Passageways, Seattle, WA 
6. Cleveland Peacemakers Alliance, Cleveland, OH 
7. Employment Connection, St. Louis, MO
8. Inner City Innovators, West Palm Beach, FL
9. Living Classrooms Foundation – Safe Streets, Baltimore, MD
10. No More Red Dots, Louisville, KY
11. Operation Good & Safe Streets, Jackson, MS
12. Paterson Healing Collective, Paterson, NJ
13. Philadelphia CeaseFire, Philadelphia, PA
14. Regional One Health – Rx for Change, Memphis, TN 
15. South Pittsburgh Coalition for Peace, Pittsburgh, PA