to The Oakland Fund for Public Innovation
to Advance Violence Interruption
Funding will be directed to Oakland Department of Violence Prevention
for targeted family systems work in middle schools.
Oakland, CA – The City of Oakland’s Department of Violence Prevention (DVP) is receiving much-needed funding to support its violence interruption efforts. In partnership with the Oakland Public Fund for Innovation, the Gilead Foundation, through the Gilead Foundation’s Creating Possible Fund™, has awarded a 3-year grant to invest in health equity strategy, including a focus on prevention and intervention services to school-age youth, disrupting the pattern of violence.
“We are so grateful to Gilead and the Oakland Fund for Public Innovation for supporting the vital work of Oakland’s Department of Violence Prevention. A health equity strategy that focuses on school-age youth can pay dividends for an entire generation. Too many Oaklanders suffer the trauma of violence, and so healing this trauma and disrupting this cycle is critical work,” said Oakland Mayor, Libby Schaaf.
Although the Department of Violence Prevention works to advance community outreach with life coaching, gender-based violence services, violence interruption, and community healing, this funding is focused on the family systems model, targeted specifically, at Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) schools, for school-site violence intervention and prevention teams. Students who are routinely exposed to violence, at home or in the community, often experience toxic stress that leads to cognitive impairment, hyperactivity, and attention deficits that make it challenging to succeed in the classroom. Exposure to violence also contributes to lower school attendance and a higher likelihood of suspension, which further promotes disengagement from school. Using a public health approach, the DVP will strengthen family, school, and community contexts for OUSD school students living in neighborhoods with high rates of violence, to reduce their exposure to violence and increase their chances of succeeding academically.
“We understand that violence is a public health issue that many of our schools and young people face daily. Through the Gilead Foundation’s Creating Possible FundTM, we look forward to helping lead the way by investing in equitable solutions that will have real impact and help heal our communities.”
– Kate Wilson, Executive Director, Gilead Foundation.
“The Gilead Foundation is proud to support the Oakland Fund for Public Innovation and the City of Oakland’s Department of Violence Prevention,” said Kate Wilson, Executive Director, Gilead Foundation. “We understand that violence is a public health issue that many of our schools and young people face daily. Through the Gilead Foundation’s Creating Possible FundTM, we look forward to helping lead the way by investing in equitable solutions that will have real impact and help heal our communities.”
Chief of Violence Prevention with the City of Oakland, Guillermo Cespedes, further states, “The generosity of the Gilead Foundation will allow the DVP to strengthen families and protect its members from becoming involved in lifestyles associated with violence while increasing educational outcomes and lifelong learning skills.”
The following DVP strategies include:
1. Engage 80 families of OUSD students who are at high risk for violence victimization or perpetration in six months of coaching, educational sessions, and resource provision designed to improve the family’s ability to protect its members from violence. Families will practice constructive ways of problem-solving, communicating, and making decisions that they are able to apply to any problem the family needs to address, including exposure to violence, chronic absenteeism, or suspension.
2. Host Town Nights community events on six consecutive Friday evenings at eight locations across Oakland that serve students and families from the targeted OUSD schools during Summer 2023, Summer 2024, and Summer 2025. Town Nights is a multi-generational approach to violence prevention that involves hosting community events during hours and days when violence is likely to increase for the purpose of engaging families in prosocial activities during high-crime hours, building community cohesion as a protective factor against future violence, and engaging group-involved individuals in mediation discussions that result in reductions in future violence.
3. Implement a violence prevention and intervention awareness media campaign at OUSD school sites and during Town Nights events. Campaign messaging will focus on the following: (1) emotional, cognitive, and physical effects of violence on victims; (2) signs of victimization; (3) available prevention and intervention resources in Oakland; (4) non-violent responses to violence; and (5) cultural misconceptions and unhealthy behaviors related to violence.
“The Oakland Fund for Public Innovation is proud to be in partnership with the Gilead Foundation and with the City of Oakland’s Department of Violence Prevention. We deeply believe in a holistic, public health approach to helping our most vulnerable young people and communities heal from violence.” commented Juma Crawford, Chief Executive Officer of The Oakland Fund for Public Innovation