The Community Justice Action Fund Applauds President Biden’s Historic $5 Billion Support for Community Violence Prevention and Intervention Strategies
Community Justice Action Fund issued the following statement:
For Immediate Release
March 31, 2021
Contact
Andrea L. Pino-Silva
Communications Director
andrea@cjactionfund.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 31, 2021
Contact: Andrea Pino-Silva, andrea@cjactionfund.org; 202-765-1779
The Community Justice Action Fund Applauds President Biden’s Historic $5 Billion Support for Community Violence Prevention and Intervention Strategies
WASHINGTON, D.C. –
“Earlier today, President Biden announced his American Jobs Plan, and included that he is calling on Congress to specifically target funding to workers facing some of the greatest challenges, with a $12 billion investment. This includes $5 billion over eight years in support of evidence-based community violence prevention programs. We are thrilled with this news after years of working to support funding directives that will directly help address gun violence in communities of color.
The crisis of gun violence has destroyed Black and Brown communities for decades. Our pain, our trauma and our lives have been lost for too long without action. President Biden’s action today to address this crisis through his infrastructure package is a historic investment in proactive community based solutions to prevent violence before it happens through evidence based strategies. This historic step came after years of work, commitment, and advocacy to center the people closest to the pain. To everyone who signed our petitions, made phone calls, joined our campaigns, or supported our work.
Gun violence has become a pandemic that can no longer be overlooked, as it has become the #1 cause of death for Black youth, Black men and the #2 cause of death for Latino men and Black women. Gun violence impacts over 100,000 people in America and has cost our American economy over $280 Billion a year, so this $5 Billion dollars is a strong stride forward to turn the tide on this crisis.
We applaud President Biden for hearing our demands and taking this historic step. We will continue to work side by side with this Administration to see this through with Congress, and will continue to demand change on every level of government to end gun violence.”
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The Community Justice Action Fund, a project of Tides Advocacy, is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization building power for and with communities of color to end gun violence.