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 preparation, mentorship, and other stabilizing support.
LIVE FREE USA and Advance Peace provided technical assistance as the initiative took shape, helping translate years of national Community Violence Intervention learning into a model grounded in Orlando’s neighborhoods.
After the first full year, an independent review found a 36 percent reduction in nonfatal injury shootings and a 20 percent reduction in gun homicides citywide. Among surviving program fellows, about 91 percent had not experienced a new gun injury and about 83 percent had not been arrested on a new gun charge.
By 2025, Orlando recorded its lowest annual homicide total since police began tracking the measure in 1971. The Florida Rights Restoration Coalition reported an 88 percent reduction in gun homicides and a 71 percent decline in injury-related shootings over the program’s first three years.
These outcomes show the power of pairing trusted messengers with employment support, mental-health resources, conflict mediation, and long-term relationship building. Explore LIVE FREE’s Community Violence Intervention work, review research in the resource library, or join the movement.
Sources: Florida Rights Restoration Coalition and News 6 Orlando.
