Two nights ago, the Department of Justice sent us a devastating letter:
“This award is being terminated because … [the] Department has changed its priorities with respect to discretionary grant funding…”
The award was $2.9 million. Our priorities for that money were to invest it in community-based public safety strategies–specifically, five innovative organizations throughout Louisiana that are building safety for their neighbors.
Instantly, this funding, plus a separate grant supporting our restorative justice work, disappeared. The federal government funds based on reimbursement , so we’re owed hundreds of thousands of dollars for work we’ve already done. But we can’t even log into the system anymore.
More than half of the money in our grant went to other organizations. Still, the rest came to EJUSA and made possible the work we do best: helping emerging leaders and organizations realize their fullest life-saving potential by supporting their growth, guiding their key strategies, and ensuring that they will be sustainable for their communities.
We refuse to back down. That means, most importantly, that we keep helping these Louisiana organizations even if we have no more funds to pass on. The BRidge Agency, in Baton Rouge, still has to support families by breaking cycles of poverty and violence—offering mentorship, education, and resources that strengthen both young people and the adults that care for them. Silence is Violence, in New Orleans, still needs to support victims in the aftermath of violence to de-escalate and prevent future violence. Forever Takes a Village, in Bogalusa, a small town with high rates of violence, still needs to do street outreach to work with young people at risk of violence.
This administration is not serious about protecting public safety. To the contrary, it is committed to creating the conditions for violence to thrive.
You can help us fight back. First, you can make a special investment in the work you make possible so we can weather this horrible storm.
Then be on the lookout for more ways you can tell this administration that safety starts in the community, because we know what we need to be safe.
Toward justice.
