PHILADELPHIA, PA – January 12, 2023 − On Thursday afternoon, Senate Democratic Appropriations Chairman Vincent Hughes (D-Philadelphia/Montgomery) and Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus Chairwoman Representative Donna Bullock (D-Philadelphia) announced a historic amount of grant funding for Pennsylvania community-based violence reduction efforts.

Sen. Hughes and Rep. Bullock were joined by Philadelphia, state, and federal leaders at the Boys & Girls Club of Philadelphia for the announcement of $100.5 million in Coordinated Community Violence Intervention (CCVI) Strategies Pilot grants and Violence Intervention and Prevention (VIP) grants awarded to groups statewide that are working to make their communities safer.

Boys & Girls Club of Philadelphia is among the recipients.

“As we stand here today at the Boys & Girls Club of Philadelphia, we know that its work, along with that of so many great groups in our community and across the commonwealth, is making a significant difference in the ongoing push to stop and prevent gun violence, get our young and at-risk people off the streets, and provide safe and healthy alternatives to a life of crime,” said Senator Vincent Hughes. “The VIP program is in its second year and the funding for it has nearly tripled in that time. We are so thankful to Governor Wolf, President Joe Biden, and our members in Congress who helped make such an investment possible.”

“I was proud to vote for the Biden American Rescue Plan and for hundreds of millions of dollars of new federal funding to fight gun violence in the spending package we passed last month! I’m glad to see American Rescue Plan funding being put to good use fighting gun violence in Philadelphia,” said Congressman Dwight Evans.

“These grants for evidence-based and community-informed projects are wise investments that will ultimately reduce the growing costs of gun violence in our communities,” said Representative Donna Bullock. “We all pay those costs, whether directly or indirectly. With these state investments, we will all share the dividends, which will be safer communities.”

The grants were awarded this week through the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) and funded by Pennsylvania’s General Fund, as well as federally by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) as part of the current, 2022-2023 state budget.

Of the $100.5 million in grants available, $15 million was set aside for the CCVI Strategies pilot grants, and $85.5 million was allocated to VIP competitive grants.

An additional $4.5 million will be used to support technical assistance to VIP and CCVI project sites, as well as research and evaluation of the implementation and effectiveness of the projects being funded.

For the full list of the groups/projects awarded grants, visit here:

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