Our Story

In 2018, recognizing the critical role that community-based violence intervention programs have played to reduce gun violence in American cities for decades and the effectiveness of their strategies, Everytown began developing our grant program with input from national partners and subject matter experts.

Everytown launched its grant program with an initial investment of $1.1 million, providing support grants to 11 community-based gun violence intervention groups nationwide, with input from partners, experts, community members, and practitioners.

Everytown expanded our grant program in response to dual pandemics—persistent gun violence and COVID 19. This included grants to 15 community-based violence intervention programs while extending grants to 21 additional community-based organizations adapting to the impact of the pandemic, with the support of the Langeloth Foundation.

Acknowledging the persistent rise in gun violence and the urgent need to sustain support of community-based violence intervention programs, Everytown formalized the grant program by launching the Everytown Community Safety Fund to support, sustain, and scale the life-saving work of community-based violence intervention programs in American cities over the next five years.

Everytown Community Safety Fund network, including our grantees and Advisory Board members, provided education and technical assistance related to the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act (BSCA). BSCA included historic funding for community violence intervention programs, affirming their value and unlocking new opportunities for this life-saving work.

In our fifth year of giving, the Everytown Community Safety Fund has grown into the nation’s largest grant program solely dedicated to supporting community-based violence intervention efforts. Committed to deepening our support of our growing network, the Fund introduced training cohorts and other unique peer networking opportunities to deliver tools to expand their life-saving work and obtain additional funding.

As community violence intervention continued to expand nationwide, the Everytown Community Safety Fund surpassed $13 million in unrestricted funding, supporting 136 organizations across 69 cities. The Fund also deepened its focus on educating decision-makers, bringing survivor mothers to the White House for a first-of-its-kind convening, providing research and evidence on potential VOCA reforms to expand access, elevating hospital-based violence intervention programs among health system leaders to accelerate adoption, highlighting the intersection of gun violence and intimate partner violence to drive deeper investment, and amplifying urgent grantee needs to unlock critical bridge funding.

As support for community violence intervention became increasingly fragile, the Everytown Community Safety Fund responded to major funding rollbacks by prioritizing stability and deepening its investment in frontline practitioners. Committed to sustaining both organizations and the leaders behind them, the Fund delivered targeted funding, increased investment in leadership development, and launched specialized training and assessment efforts to prepare grantees for long-term success. At the same time, the Fund helped shift the national narrative through its documentary Pieces of the Puzzle, elevating the voices and impact of community violence intervention leaders across the country.