Partners

Indianapolis Shows Why Co-Governance Matters for Public Safety

Indianapolis offers an important lesson in how organized communities can move from demanding change to helping govern it.LIVE FREE Indiana and its partners developed a co-governance model: grassroots leaders engage public officials consistently, shape priorities, monitor implementation, and hold institutions accountable for results. This organizing helped move $17 million toward Community Violence Intervention, non-police crisis response, and efforts to end chronic [...]

Healing Is Public Safety: Illinois Centers Communities After Violence

Public safety does not end when a shooting stops. Families still face grief, trauma, fear, financial strain, and the possibility of retaliation. LIVE FREE Illinois is helping build a response that treats healing as essential infrastructure.Community Healing Resource Centers connect residents with trauma-informed support, outreach, community events, and trusted local organizations. In 2024, the centers engaged 11,562 people through healing activities [...]

Detroit’s ShotStoppers Put Neighborhood Organizations at the Center of Safety

Detroit’s ShotStoppers initiative is building evidence for a central principle of LIVE FREE’s work: communities need the resources and authority to lead violence prevention.The city launched ShotStoppers in 2023 with an $11 million investment. Instead of relying on a single citywide provider, Detroit funded neighborhood organizations to lead Community Violence Intervention in six areas with high levels of shootings and homicides.The [...]

Peace Orlando Proves Community Violence Intervention Can Save Lives

Peace Orlando began with a simple but powerful idea: the people closest to violence can also be closest to the solution.Launched in November 2022 by the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, Peace Orlando works with residents at the highest risk of being involved in gun violence. Neighborhood Change Associates build trusted relationships, mediate conflict, and connect participants to cognitive behavioral therapy, employment [...]

Oakland’s Ceasefire Story Shows What Sustained Community Leadership Can Do

Oakland’s experience offers one of the clearest examples of what becomes possible when community organizing, credible messengers, services, and public accountability work together.In 2012, after years of pressure from community and faith leaders, Oakland launched a coordinated Ceasefire strategy focused on the small number of people at the greatest risk of shooting or being shot. The model combined direct communication, intensive [...]

Live Free OKC – Peace Needs Conference

Oklahoma City is resolved to make peace. By leveraging long-standing efforts to bridge gaps and achieve positive change across the political spectrum, LiveFree OKC is collaboratively pursuing a more inclusive ecosystem for policy creation. Join us September 26th-28th in downtown OKC for a convergence of proven peacemaking strategies across community organizing, art, education, dialogue, and advocacy. Learn from and collaborate with [...]

2024-05-08T17:43:02-04:00May 8th, 2024|News, Partners, Upcoming Events|0 Comments

The power of community organizing is real! 

After years of targeted organizing work, some of Live Free’s key partner organizations are making great strides reducing violence in their cities. In both Detroit and Orlando, it was the organizers themselves who built their own community-led violence intervention (CVI) programs.  Force Detroit Detroit has long maintained some of the highest homicide rates in the country, despite the city’s Ceasefire program. [...]

Community Advocates and Law Enforcement Officials Unite at Gun Violence Prevention Summit in Central Florida

On Monday, May 8, 2023, a significant event took place in Central Florida as community advocates, politicians, and law enforcement officials gathered for a Gun Violence Prevention Summit. With recent incidents of gun violence sparking debates across the nation, the summit aimed to address this critical issue. Hosted by State Attorney Monique Worrell, the event emphasized the importance of collaboration between [...]

2023-05-23T16:27:57-04:00May 18th, 2023|Justice, News, Partners|0 Comments

Justice for Julius Jones – Racial Prejudice in the Criminal Justice System: the Case of Julius Jones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9DZy_jhqxo Julius Jones remains incarcerated in Oklahoma, without the possibility of parole, despite maintaining his innocence and being TWICE recommended for commutation by the Oklahoma Pardon & Parole Board for a sentence with the possibility of parole.  In a case riddled with odious racial discrimination — including a police officer’s use of a racial slur during Mr. Jones’ arrest and [...]

2023-04-13T12:39:49-04:00April 13th, 2023|Death Penalty, News, Partners|0 Comments

Florida’s Latino Evangelical Church Unites to Speak Up Against Immigration Bill | Evangelicosforjustice.org

In Florida, Latino churches are organizing en masse to push back against a cruel anti-immigrant bill being proposed by the governor’s office. Bus loads of Latino pastors and ministry leaders assembled at the state Capitol in Tallahassee to pray, meet with legislators, and to ask the governor and state lawmakers to consider the damage that this bill will do [...]

2023-04-12T09:49:14-04:00April 12th, 2023|Justice, News, Partners|0 Comments
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