TCNJ’s Center for Community Engagement staff sit on the steering committee for the Capital City Youth Violence Coalition (CCYVC), along with Isles, Inc., Mercer County Human Services Department, the Trenton Police Department, and Millhill Child & Family Development. Like many other entities, CCYVC transitioned to a virtual model in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout this virtual time, we hosted robust presentations from Mercer Street Friends, East Trenton Collaborative, the Trenton Anti-Violence Coalition, and the Tre’ Devon Lane Foundation.
Recently, CCYVC began collaborating with the Trenton Anti-Violence Coalition (TAVC), an organization that supports the families of victims of gun violence in Trenton. Through this partnership, CCYVC members are able to provide TAVC with resources such as counseling services and funeral cost assistance. One such resource is Capital Health’s new Violence Intervention for the Community Through Outreach Recovery (VICTORY) program, in partnership with Catholic Charities Diocese of Trenton and Millhill Child & Family Development. The VICTORY program has been a successful resource in this new collaboration so far, supporting one of the families who lost a life to gun violence this past year, and is expected to assist many more. Through this collaboration between CCYVC and TAVC, we are able to connect resources directly to Trenton community members.
CCYVC also assisted with a fishbone activity around gun violence in Trenton that was organized by Gene Bouie, board member on the Board of Education. Through a series of virtual meetings with guided facilitation, the group identified root causes of gun violence in the City of Trenton. The findings from these exercises can be instrumental in developing programs for organizations and identifying needs in the community.
CCYVC created a Trenton Youth Safety Playbook for organizations and community members to access to help guide decision making, program planning, and grant writing. You can find the playbook here. To learn more about CCYVC, please visit https://ccyvc.pages.tcnj.edu.