Here’s how these nonprofits plan to spend $50,000 to reduce violent crime in Charlotte
Backed by a grant from the city and the federal government, the Safety and Accountability for Everyone (SAFE) Charlotte program selected 17 nonprofits in April to receive up to $50,000 for programs designed to reduce violent crime.
The nonprofits, which are part of Charlotte’s broader police reform project, have until April 2022 to use the funding. Here’s what the organizations say they are planning:
▪ Alluvium: Financing better field trips at its educational summer camp for low-income students. Destinations include Charlotte Douglas International Airport, the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, and Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord.
▪ Beta Nu Lambda Foundation (BEAM): Plans to purchase Wi-Fi hotspots, loaner laptops and improved reading materials to support its education and mentorship programs for minority middle and high schoolers.
▪ Beatties Ford Road Vocational Trade Center: Hosting programs in which young people will speak with vocational school alumni and produce a podcast about issues in their lives and communities.
▪ Center 360: Plans to transition from volunteers to paid coaches at its enrichment program for at-risk middle schoolers.
▪ Family Mankind: Hopes to expand the reach of its programming, which works with abusive individuals to break cycles of violence.
▪ Firm Foundations Youth and Family: Hopes to begin paying mentors who currently volunteer at its middle and high school youth development programs.
▪ Mecklenburg Council of Elders: Works to improve citizens’ awareness of their rights in the criminal justice system, and it hopes to bolster programming in high-crime neighborhoods.
▪ Planet Improv: Partnering with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police to run improv-based, anti-violence sessions with teens.
▪ Project BOLT: Partnering with young people in low-income areas to better connect communities with needed resources.
▪ Stiletto Boss University: Taking its entrepreneurship-focused summer camp on weekly outings. Destinations include a trampoline park, a bowling alley and the movies.
These SAFE Charlotte grant recipients have not responded to Observer requests for comment:
▪ Thornhill Rites of Passage Foundation
▪ Teach a Man to Fish Foundation