Lorain County Urban League violence prevention program receives state funding

ELYRIA — A program to address violence in Lorain and Elyria received a financial boost from the state on Friday. The Lorain County Urban League received $657,312 from the state for peer and community support and resources for at-risk individuals. The program is part of an effort announced in October for Lorain County's largest cities to curb gun violence following the shooting death of a 24-year-old Elyria man. Jordan Lee Flanigan was shot and killed at Midview Crossing Apartments on Oct. 27. Days after his death, Elyria Mayor Frank Whitfield and Lorain Mayor Jack Bradley announced the joint proposal to bring a violence interrupters program to their cities. The program, through a partnership with the Lorain County Urban League, will look to develop mentors to work with teens and young adults to be more engaged in their cities, and help resolve conflicts before those involved pull the trigger. The more than $600,000 grant is part of the state's support for community violence prevention programs, first announced last fall. "This program is the latest step in our holistic approach toward enhanced public safety in Ohio," Gov. Mike DeWine said in a news release. "From giving our law enforcement officers new tools to fight crime to strengthening community-based initiatives that prevent future violence, we're striving to ensure that our communities have the resources they need to protect and support the public." A total of 39 programs across the state received about $20 million in funding Friday. The grant program is funded as part of $250 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds dedicated to issues exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, including crime rates, according to the state's news release. The newly announced funding joins another $200,000 the project received from the Nord Family Foundation last month, which pledged to address community violence as a public health issue over the next two years. "It's really looking at violence as a contagion the same way we dealt with the pandemic," Elyria Mayor Frank Whitfield said when announcing the $200,000 grant at a monthly violence prevention meeting at South Park Rec. Bradley said the $657,000, coupled with the Nord Family Foundation funds, may be enough to start a pilot program in the two cities. That pilot program would be based on the Cure Violence model — previously known as CeaseFire. The model started in the mid-1990s in Chicago as an interdisciplinary, public health strategy to the city's rising gun violence. At the street level, Cure Violence calls for "violence interrupters," or individuals who have prior gang history to reach out to active members and address ongoing disputes or identify potential retaliatory events. "I think with the Urban League's help, we're going to be able to do some real good for our youth that are getting themselves in situations that, I think, with some mentoring we can prevent," Bradley said. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.