Hands Off the Violence Prevention Fund: An Open Letter to the City of Pittsburgh

To the Leadership, Elected Officials, and Policy Makers of the City of Pittsburgh:

In 1992, as the street murder of young boys began to claim our youth, the city turned a blind eye. Instead of saving our children, leadership prioritized tourism, image, and economic development over the lives of Black and Brown children in forgotten neighborhoods.

When the status quo looked away, a small group of grassroots activists—armed with no resources, no government grants, and no official backing—stepped directly into the fire.

Doing the Work Before It Was a "Framework"

We didn't wait for a public health framework. For nearly twenty-five years before local government recognized community violence as a public health crisis, grassroots workers were in the streets doing the heavy lifting. We were brokering peace treaties, facilitating conflict resolution, organizing support groups, hosting social gatherings, and providing the love, family structure, and economic hope these young men were searching for.

Where systemic neglect left gaping holes in our neighborhoods, community advocates filled the gap with pure dedication.

A Lifeline Under Threat

When the city finally established the Violence Prevention Fund (now known as the Stop the Violence Fund) and directed resources toward ground-level community violence intervention (CVI), it marked a long-overdue acknowledgment of what we knew all along: community-driven solutions save lives.

The funding delivered to organizations actively doing the work on the ground has made tangible, measurable strides in minimizing violence and keeping our youth alive. Yet today, the scale of resources provided still nowhere near matches the depth of the need—and now, this vital lifeline is being threatened by political maneuvering.

Politicizing the Violence Prevention Fund is a direct betrayal of the neighborhoods that have suffered the most. Decisions about funding grassroots intervention must not be dictated by political favors, bureaucratic gatekeeping, or municipal optics.

The people doing the work in the streets every day are not political pawns, and the lives of our young people are not bargaining chips.

Our Urgent Message to the City

We are issuing a clear and urgent message to the City of Pittsburgh:

• Protect the Funding: Keep political agendas out of the allocation process. Direct resources directly to the trusted, frontline grassroots organizations that have proven track records in the community.

• Expand the Investment: Current funding levels barely scratch the surface of historical neglect. Scale up the Violence Prevention Fund to match the actual magnitude of the need.

• Respect Community Expertise: Honor the decades of institutional knowledge built by those who stepped up when the city refused to act.

The community built this movement out of survival, love, and necessity. We will not stand by and watch political games undermine the progress, safety, and lives of our youth.

Hands off the Violence Prevention Fund.