Anti-Violence

Concerns about crime and gang activity in our service area have surfaced through conversations with residents and community leaders. Youth in particular, live in a community with few opportunities for youth recreation or other alternatives to gang activity.  According to the 2000 US census, in the 2-mile radius around 63rd and Kedzie, the heart of our community, there are more than 88,000 young people between the ages of 6-21 with little opportunity for structured activities outside regular school hours.

Our neighborhoods also have one of the highest rates of ex-offender re-entry in the state, many of whom have children in our schools.  There are 20 active gang sets in our service area, each targeting middle school aged students for recruitment. Our service area sits in the 8th police district, one of the most violent in Chicago. The 8th police district has consistently ranked in the top third of districts experiencing the greatest increases in crime.

SWOP's strategy has been to employ an aggressive street level anti-violence intervention initiative and coupled this with a grassroots safety initiative planning process.   Safe Havens and other programs have also been developed as alternative for gang members.  In addition, SWOP is a partner in other anti-violence efforts.  SWOP is a member of the Developing Justice Coalition, an alliance of 26 community based organizations that works to promote sensible criminal justice reforms in Illinois and was recently awarded the Community Coalition of the Year. 

  • Street Level Outreach for Violence Prevention

    The Southwest Organizing Project has distinguished itself in its anti-violence work through the CeaseFire Outreach Initiative. CeaseFire works with community-based organizations to develop and implement strategies to reduce and prevent violence, particularly shootings and killings. Outreach workers are a critical component of our anti-violence work. The outreach workers are streetwise individuals who are familiar with gang life in our neighborhood. Many of them are former gang members and some have spent time in prison. But now many of them describe their commitment in terms of “working out their redemption.”