PRESS RELEASE

26 March 2009                                                                                               For Immediate Release

Contact:          DeVone L. Boggan      

                        Neighborhood Safety Director             

510 932-9388   

RICHMOND RECEIVES FUNDING TO INCREASE HUMAN SERVICE ACTIVITY FOR ACTIVE GANG MEMBERS AND VIOLENT OFFENDERS

Richmond, CALIF – As part of his continued commitment to combating gang violence, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced the awarding of more than $9.2 million in competitive grants to provide local assistance funding to 17 cities and 13 community-based organizations in areas with heavy concentrations of gangs.   As part of this program, the City of Richmond/Office of Neighborhood Safety (ONS) in partnership with a select group of Community Based Organizations, has been awarded $400,000 over two years to expand outreach activities and services to youth and young adults most likely to be perpetrators or victims of gun violence.

In 2008, The Richmond Community Wellness Collaborative (RCWC) was cited by then State Senator Don Perata as a “unique collaboration between the City and Community Based Organizations”.  With this opportunity, the RCWC will expand the current partnership of the ONS, Neighborhood House of North Richmond, City of Richmond Employment and Training Department, Bay Area Peacekeepers and Straight Talk on Prisons to include the Richmond Community Based Employment Collaborative, Community Housing Development Corporation and the North Richmond Young Adult Empowerment Center.

“This California Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention (CalGRIP) initiative investment will allow Richmond to expand the partnership and services of the RCWC,” stated Office of Neighborhood Safety Director DeVone L. Boggan, “It provides our City with a vital opportunity to enhance our reach and menu of service activities on behalf of the city’s  most vulnerable population of youth and young adults.  Once again, we feel truly fortunate to be funded by the Governor’s California Gang Reduction, Intervention and Prevention Initiative (CalGRIP).”

The CalGRIP Initiative grant will be overseen by ONS and will provide funding for expanding street outreach service opportunities in North and South Richmond, provide gang intervention, life skills, pre-employment training, entrepreneurship and employment placement for extremely difficult to serve youth and young adult populations, as a means of addressing violence in their community.