Community Passageways to Play Integral Role in New King County Office of Gun Violence Prevention
Tuesday, October 17, 2023
Today, Community Passageways joined the community and local government officials to announce the establishment of the King County Government's Office of Gun Violence Prevention. This office aims to enhance community safety and reduce gun violence in the area, and Community Passageways is excited to participate in this crucial initiative. This announcement comes in the wake of yet another gun violence incident in our community.
Yesterday, October 16th, shots were fired outside a local daycare center on 23rd and Jackson across the street from the Community Passageways Service Center. One person was injured and receiving care at Harborview Medical. All youth and community members inside the daycare were physically unharmed. There were no injuries in the building. We are fortunate to say that our team is safe and sound. However, this incident yet again reminds us of the critical need for such initiatives. The violence our community faces is profoundly sad and grave.
In response, our SCSI, Resource Navigation, and RPKC Restoration teams have deployed a plan to support the community impacted by this incident directly. We have connected with the daycare owner, and our teams remain committed to providing resources, support, and intervention to those affected.
In collaboration with our many partners, we’ve maintained a leadership role in RPKC (Regional Peacekeepers Collective), a Public Health - Seattle & King County Regional Gun Violence Program initiative that focuses on supporting culturally responsive BIPOC-led community organizations that provide Intervention, Prevention, and Restoration services. These services encompass critical incident and hospital-based response, intensive engagement, and wrap-around life-affirming care and resources to individuals and families most impacted by gun violence and unjust systems.
Our community-based violence intervention (CVI) work is the most essential collaboration between the county and Community-Based Organizations in its history. We’ve successfully brought a powerful dynamic to this CVI work. By bringing CBOs out of silos to work under one mission of curing the disease of gun violence in our county, we have built a strong partnership with Harborview Hospital to bring much-needed direct services and case management to victims of gun violence. These partnerships put us on both the front end of gun violence to prevent and intervene and the back end dealing with the trauma of gun violence once it occurs.
“The new Department of Gun Violence will be a crucial component to the success of these community organizations and government partnerships. We are finally seeing attention going into addressing violence in our communities that has plagued our communities for decades. With the announcement of the establishment of the King County Government's Office of Gun Violence Prevention, we have a chance to put real investments into CVI in a way never seen before!"
- Community Passageways Founder, Dominique Davis
Community Passageways reaffirms its dedication to community safety and well-being as the Office of Gun Violence Prevention takes shape. We will continue to operate our Service Center during regular hours, and our safety teams will remain active in the Central District, providing support and resources to our community. Families, if you are in need of resources or healing, please reach out. The Service Center and the entire CP team is here for you. You can find our resources at www.communitypassageways.org/refer. For urgent assistance, please email refer@communitypassageways.org.
For more information about Community Passageway’s involvement in the Regional Peacekeepers Collective or our services and partners, please visit https://kingcounty.gov/en/dept/dph/health-safety/safety-injury-prevention/regional-gun-violence-community-guide
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Community Passageways is a felony diversion program that addresses the school-to-prison pipeline. Our goal is to divert youth and young adults out of the criminal justice system and give them an opportunity to receive housing, jobs, apprenticeships, internships, and support systems from the community so that we can put them in a place to be successful. Learn more and donate at communitypassageways.org
Sources: Regional Gun Violence: Community-based resource guide - King County, Washington. https://kingcounty.gov/initiatives/Regional-Gun-Violence-Community-Based-Intervention-Resource-Guide.aspx