Chicago City Wire

CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson on Thursday announced a comprehensive public safety and engagement plan for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, including a $2.5 million investment from the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities’ 8th annual Chicago Fund. The public-private partnership investment will support violence prevention and youth outreach efforts across the city by funding the work of 253 grassroots organizations working across 24 communities on the South and West sides, beginning with engaging young people in activities during Memorial Day weekend and during the gap between the end of the school year and the beginning of Chicago Park District programming. The funding will also support youth programming efforts during the summer and fall. 

“With Memorial Day marking the start of summer in Chicago, it’s crucial that our city puts forward a comprehensive public safety strategy, including vital investments in our city’s young people,” said Mayor Johnson. “My administration’s top priority is building a city where every single resident feels safe, and in order to do that, we need everyone at the table. Today illustrates our commitment to working together across government, business, and community sectors— and with philanthropic organizations like the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities coalition—to bring solutions to communities most impacted by violence and advance our vision for a safer, stronger Chicago.”   

“We are grateful for this first opportunity to collaborate with Mayor Johnson to make Chicago a safer city for all,” said Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities Executive Director Esther Franco-Payne. “Chicago’s foundation community is one-hundred percent committed to strengthening the partnerships needed to make violence prevention a permanent feature of Chicago’s public safety strategy. We are thrilled to once again support residents coming together to make their neighborhoods safer throughout the summer and fall with Chicago Fund grants. We remain deeply committed to supporting promising, multi-layered approaches as a key component of a coordinated strategy to reduce gun violence in Chicago.” 

“Having the resources to offer engaging and dynamic programming to young people is essential to building safe, strong communities,” said Tamar Manasseh, founder and president of Mothers and Men Against Senseless Killings. “We are so grateful to have the opportunity to partner in this work with Mayor Johnson and PSPC Chicago Fund and look forward to the positive impacts that this grant will have on our youth.”  

“The business community has an important role to play in implementing our shared vision for public safety in Chicago,” said Charles Smith, founder and CEO of CS Insurance Strategies. “We are proud to support efforts to bring programming to young people and the potential these grants have to transform communities. It will take everyone at the table—across business, philanthropic, and government sectors—to create change.”  

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