Cook County is putting another $5 million behind community groups on the front lines of gun violence, awarding grants to nine organizations that specialize in street outreach, case management and victim services. County leaders say the cash is part of a long game, not a one off, in what they describe as a sustained investment in community led violence prevention.
The awards were announced Wednesday at St. Sabina Church, where Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle told the crowd, “Community violence intervention works; it works because it’s community led.” The nine grantees are New Eclipse Community Alliance, New Life Centers, OAI, Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation, Rincon Family Services, Second Chance Initiative, UCAN, Lost Boyz and Unstacked. Officials also pointed out that this latest round builds on roughly $110 million the county has poured into violence prevention over the past four years, according to FOX 32 Chicago. A separate $15 million funding opportunity is set to open July 1.
What the grants will fund and how to apply
The Justice Advisory Council says the county’s Community Violence Intervention framework focuses on three main lanes of work: street outreach that helps interrupt conflicts before they escalate, case management that links people to housing, legal help and job support, and victim services that connect survivors to counseling and emergency assistance.
The council has posted a Notice of Funding Opportunity that will officially go live on July 1, with a virtual information session scheduled for June 25 and applications due in early August, as outlined by the Cook County Justice Advisory Council. County officials are nudging interested groups to get familiar with the requirements now so they are not scrambling at the last minute.
Why county leaders point to the data
County officials are tying this money to a broader trend they are eager to talk about: preliminary numbers shared at the St. Sabina event show gun homicides dropping from a peak of 1,007 in 2021 to about 448 in 2025. Leaders say the grants are meant to stabilize and expand the street level work they credit with helping drive that decline, a pattern Cook County has highlighted in recent announcements and press materials.
Community reaction and next steps
Not everyone who packed into St. Sabina walked away with good news. Pam Bosley, deputy director of St. Sabina’s Violence Prevention Center, was in the room and reminded attendees that her own son was killed on church grounds in 2006. His case is still unsolved, and her program was not among the nine funded this round.
County officials stressed that this grant cycle is only one piece of a larger, multi track effort and encouraged eligible organizations to review the July 1 funding notice and log on to the June 25 info session to strengthen future applications, as detailed by the Cook County Justice Advisory Council.
Hoodline previously reported on Cook County’s earlier wraparound funding for survivors and related grant rounds, offering context on how the county has shifted some investments between Chicago and the suburbs as programs evolve. Community groups and residents will be watching next month’s application window closely to see who gets a shot at the next wave of funding.
