Milwaukee’s Coming Together Partnership today (Wednesday, April 22) announced the awarding of six “Change-maker” grants to community organizations for programs aimed at engaging youth in preventing gun violence at a press conference at the Hillside Family Resource Center, 1452 N. 7th St.

The awards of $900 to $1,000 are to be used by the agencies from April to September in supporting youth involvement in projects focused on preventing gun violence and becoming “change-makers” in their neighborhoods.

“The majority of youth in our community are seeking positive ways to move into adulthood,” said Rob Cherry, director of the Public Policy Institute at Community Advocates, Inc., a Coming Together Partnership sponsoring agency. “We know that young people are concerned about the violence in their daily lives and that if given support they will become involved in bringing peaceful change into our neighborhoods.”

This is the second year the Coming Together Partnership has provided mini-grants to community agencies. In 2014, youth collaborated with community agencies around projects such as the production of music videos stressing gun violence prevention, a community outreach program and several rallies.

The grants were awarded to:

Hillside Resource Center – Milwaukee Housing Authority to support a community forum and development of a youth council on a neighborhood anti-gun violence campaign.

Neu-Life Community Development to support a week-long neighborhood project involving youth and ending with a major community event.

Running Rebels Community Organization for costs in the production of a video and the printing and distribution of 10,000 postcards in an anti-gun violence effort in neighborhoods in 53205 and 53206 zipcodes.

Safe & Sound to fund two events that are part of a youth-developed gun violence neighborhood-based project.

St. Charles Youth and Family Services for involving 100 juveniles currently in the agency’s court-mandated activities for community outreach efforts.

Walnut Way for support to the Walnut Way Peace Project by providing training of neighborhood ambassadors to foster positive relationships in the community.

The Coming Together Partnership is a coalition that includes Community Advocates – Milwaukee Brighter Futures Initiative; City of Milwaukee Health Department Office of Violence Prevention; Medical College of Wisconsin – Violence Prevention Initiative; and Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin – Project Ujima.