INDIANAPOLIS – Mayor Joe Hogsett has announced a $115 million dollar commitment to the city’s gun violence intervention (GVI) program, the nation’s most effective strategy to stop gun violence, a set of alternatives to incarceration long advocated for by Faith in Indiana, a Faith in Action federation. The funding will be spread out over three years and will come from Indianapolis-Marion County’s allotment of the American Rescue Plan (ARP).

A breakdown of the funding is below:

  • $37 million for GVI & expansion to 50 Peacemakers for next 3 years
  • $45 million for anti-violence community grants
  • $30 million for mental health programming

  • $3 million to expand Assessment and Intervention Center (AIC)

“We are thrilled that the mayor has put his trust and skill into this strategy proven to save lives,” said Rosie Bryant, Lead Organizer with Faith in Indiana. “We have long advocated for full implementation of the Peacemakers program and a commitment to follow national best practices of Group Violence Intervention. These funds will make it possible to finally ensure all elements of this life-saving strategy are in place, so violence in our community can end. We are looking forward to going deeper with our work, including holding more neighborhood Peacemaker walks, assisting in the creation of mental health programs, and training opportunities for neighborhoods to get involved in, so they can see that there are more options to solving problems, taking out their anger, and demonstrating reckless behavior than gun violence.”

“As faith leaders, we rejoice in this multimillion dollar investment that has been allocated to strategies we’ve long advocated for,” said Pastor Darian C. Bouie of Progressive Baptist Church in Indianapolis. “Violence is never the answer, which is why we’ve committed to the people of Indianapolis to reduce gun violence. There have been many unfortunate incidents, but through it all, we’ve remained consistent. It’s a blessed assurance knowing that the city is on our side, and we look forward to the results that our work will yield.”