Violence Intervention
We strive for timely and empathetic violence intervention in two ways.
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The Outreach Specialist Team aims to support gang affiliated youth and students in making nonviolent choices.
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The Victim Services Team aims to support community members who are affected by violence.
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Learn more about our teams below!
Outreach Specialist Team
Our Nonviolence Outreach Specialists are "the boots on the ground" of the Institute. The team works every day in Providence, Pawtucket and Central Falls to understand the dynamics of gang violence, to support young people in making nonviolent choices, and to mediate potential conflicts that could lead to violence.
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Learn more about this work from members of the Outreach Team!
Strong Partnerships
Our Outreach Team partners with other organizations and local law enforcement to understand the dynamics of gang violence and to mediate potential conflict before it erupts to a violent situation.
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Outreach Specialists are on the frontlines, attending events at Rec Centers and other areas that attract young people, being present at school openings and closings, and presenting a familiar, trustworthy, and appropriate face to the at-risk people in our communities.
Mentoring Youth
Outreach Specialists at the Institute spend one-to-one time with the most at-risk young people from Providence, Pawtucket, and Central Falls working to understand the challenges they face and to connect them with resources and opportunities that can lead to nonviolent choices.
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They become trusted friends and partners and are passionate about giving young people employment and education resources that help them to become more healthy & productive.
Mediation
Our Outreach Specialists mediates potential conflicts between rival gangs to interrupt the cycle of retaliation that can often lead to more violence. Through strong relationships and an understanding of gang dynamics, our team has brought people to shared tables to work through conflict using nonviolence principles and practices.
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Our framework works—violence on our city's streets has significantly reduced since the Institute's founding in the summer of 2000.
Victim Services
Our Victim Services Team offers direct support and resources for community members that are directly impacted by violence. The Victim Services Team builds The Beloved Community by consoling victims of violence, sustaining members of our community who need support when violent incidents have occurred, educating professionals who deal directly with victims and their families, and finally by celebrating our community's best times.
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Our program includes providing counseling resources, advocating for victims in the court system, connecting victims with appropriate compensation, and providing healthy and safe housing and the mechanisms that help victims to sustain that housing.
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Listen to our team talk about their important work and their motivations below!
Resources for Victims
Our Victim Services Team responds to every violent incident in the state, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. We often provide direct mediation at hospitals, prevent retaliation in a hospital or street setting, and offer counseling and support to family members of homicide victims.
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When situations stabilize, our team ensures that victims have access to compensation through state victim services. The Institute also offers housing relocation assistance and resources such as counseling referrals and education and employment resources through partner agencies.
Need to apply for Victim's Compensation?
Click the link below.
Ongoing Support
Our clients are lifetime clients. Once a person enters the Nonviolence Institute, they become a part of our family.
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Victim Services offers lifelong support for victims of violence in the form of support sessions, holiday celebrations, art therapy projects, spa nights, and other activities that improve the lives of our clients and honor the memories of deceased loved ones.
Wellness & Our Model
The Institute team is a family. As a family, we look out for each other. The Victim Services team provides regular wellness activities for both clients and staff. These are the foundations for the self-care called for in our model. To live a life of nonviolence, we understand you must start with yourself. ​
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Staff meetings and gatherings are always focused on gauging people's stress levels and ensuring that each individual on our team is getting the resources they need to do their best for our clients and The Beloved Healthy Community.