The Office of Gun Violence Prevention (OGVP) within the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CPDHE) provides grants to organizations to conduct community-based gun violence initiatives focused on interrupting cycles of gun violence, trauma, and retaliation. This year, OGVP is providing $500,000 in funding that is focused on firearm suicide prevention and hospital and community-based violence intervention initiatives.
This $500,000 is 90% supported by federal grant 15PBJA-23-GG-00005-BSCI, issued by the Colorado Division of Criminal Justice. The remaining 10% is provided by the Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
The office recently sent letters of intent to award to the following organizations.
Serving Garfield, Pitkin, Rio Blanco counties
- YouthZone’s Safe Pathways program provides wraparound services to youth and families impacted by firearm violence. This program focuses on repairing harm for victims, offenders, and the community to facilitate community re-entry after a firearm-related incident.
Currently serving Arapahoe, Douglas counties - proposed statewide expansion
- This project builds upon an existing effort to support community pediatricians in discussing safe storage of firearms and providing free cable locks to patients at every wellness visit.
Serving Eagle, Summit, and Garfield counties
- This project’s focuses on addressing the increase in the amount of suicides by firearms in these mountain communities. This project will provide public education about firearm safe storage options as well as train local health care providers, law enforcement agencies, and educators on Lethal Means Safety options.
Serving El Paso and Teller counties
- This project will support the Pathways Beyond Violence program, which uses multi-disciplinary team strategies and restorative practices to include individual service and coordinated care such as counseling, substance use treatment, tutoring, after school mentoring, and wraparound services for youth with complex needs.
Serving three Denver-based Level 1 trauma hospitals
- The At-Risk Intervention and Mentoring (AIM) program will expand its existing intervention work in three metro-Denver Trauma Level 1 hospitals to connect survivors and their families to trauma-informed services, including substance use, behavioral health, and education.
Serving North Aurora and Northeast Denver
- SOLF’s Violence Interruption Program plans to address youth violence through the credible messenger model, providing case management and conferencing to clients, implementing additional training for experienced Violence Interruption staff, and conducting community-wide events with support from Game Changers, a group with lived experience in the community.