Newport News prepares to funnel money to community groups fighting gun violence

On a week when 21 people died in a mass shooting at a Texas elementary school, the city of Newport News is preparing to put money in the hands of community organizations fighting gun violence.

It’s a grant program that’s part of the city’s multi-pronged approach to preventing gun violence — a problem that has been on the rise in cities around the country.

“Through this collaborative program, we are partnering with community organizations that provide immediate interventions and long-term prevention strategies that address gun violence in our city,” Newport News Mayor McKinley L. Price said in a news release. “Gun violence is a national public health crisis, and we are addressing it head-on in Newport News.

It’s not clear how much money will be given away through the grant. The city has $125,000 from the state to give to qualified organizations, and city officials have indicated that they may be willing to match or exceed the funds with city dollars.

Before announcing at Tuesday night’s meeting that organizations can now apply for the grants, Price took a moment to reflect on the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, that left at least 19 elementary school students and two teachers dead earlier that day.

“We can’t seem as a country to get together to come up with solutions,” Price said. “I pray that we will have the guts to do the things that need to be done to help solve this problem.”

The city has been talking about the community grant funds for several months. While one council member asked to make $200,000 available for organizations in December, the council decided to hold off — opting instead to first conduct a citywide survey in partnership with Christopher Newport University’s Center for Crime, Equity and Justice Research and Policy.

As of Tuesday night, more than 70 organizations and individuals had registered to attend a meeting today about the application process. The session will be recorded and made available on the city website for those unable to attend.

Organizations have until 5 p.m. June 24 to apply for the funds. The city anticipates notifying awardees on July 11.

According to the preliminary findings of the survey, which included responses from about 2,000 people, residents overall reported feeling safe in Newport News.

But approximately 11% of survey respondents said they had been the victim of a violent crime within the past year, and more than a quarter of those incidents involved a weapon. Of those who reported being victims of violence, nearly 30% suffered minor injuries and 10% said they had major injuries.

More than 60% of the respondents reported at least some concern about losing someone to gun violence or being shot themselves.

The survey found that people identified mental health concerns, poverty and unsupervised youth as the biggest problems in their neighborhoods.

Homicides were seventh on the list, with approximately 23% of respondents identifying them as a big or very big problem in their neighborhood.

CNU will continue to analyze the data and hone in on young people, African Americans and people without a college education who were underrepresented in the survey, specifically through targeted focus groups, according to Steven Keener, director of CNU’s center.

Organizations interested in applying for the community grant funds can apply on the city’s website www.nnva.gov.

Jessica Nolte, 757-912-1675, jnolte@dailypress.com