For Dujuan Zoe Kennedy of Force Detroit, observing the at-risk youngsters he mentors to avoid violent crime on the city’s west side and prevent shootings themselves is proof that community violence intervention works.

For Alia Harvey Quinn, more proof that the effort Force Detroit invests in the community has an impact may be seen in the number of families and victims of violence who have been temporarily relocated to safe houses. Then there are the numbers.

ForceDetroit was among six community organizations chosen by the City of Detroit to receive American Rescue Plan Act monies as part of the city’s “ShotStoppers” community violence intervention program, with the goal of avoiding shootings and homicides in Detroit’s most violent neighborhoods. The $10 million program officially begins in August 2023.

“If you see something functioning, invest in it. Invest in it long-term,” Kennedy urged at a Tuesday press conference at the Northwest Activity Center.

“Everybody we saw die, everything we saw done, every mother that we saw cry, every balloon that we saw go up in the sky, every piece of wax off the candle that burned our hands, every shirt that got pressed with our family members on it, every GoFundMe that had to be established because we were living in poverty… it ain’t in vain. We got purpose now.”

In the west side areas of ForceDetroit services, like Warrendale and Franklin Park, killings and gunshots plummeted 72% between November 2023 and January 2024 compared to the same span a year previously, according to Detroit police data. That’s considerably above the 37% average drop in violent crime the city has seen in regions the ShotStoppers program does not serve.

And in sections of the east side like the Outer Drive-Hayes neighborhood, where Detroit Friends and Family, another ShotStopper organization, serves, violent crime was cut by 48%, the data indicates.

The city revealed at Tuesday’s press conference that ForceDetroit earned a performance award of $175,000 for the improvements it achieved in the community it serves, and Detroit Friends and Family got a performance grant of $87,500.

Additionally, Deputy Mayor Todd Bettison, who manages the ShotStopper program, said the city intends on extending its contract with each organization for another year.

Each ShotStopper organization presently receives $175,000 in ARPA funds per quarter to implement its intervention and prevention programs, according to the city. Bettison said the city hopes to fund neighborhood violence reduction programs long-term by investing $8 million in state public safety funding per year. Other organizations noticed reductions in violent crimes in their community violence intervention zones:

Between November 2023 and January 2024, violent crime reduced by 35% in the areas covered by New Era Community Connection compared to the same period a year prior, and Detroit Peoples Community reported a nearly 27% reduction in their community violence intervention zone.

“We know that the world is watching. And that when we get it right here, we’re going to build the foundation and standard to be able to deliver that blueprint to the rest of the country,” Bettison added.

The six ShotStopper organizations have worked with over 425 Detroiters since the initiative debuted in August 2023, according to the city.

What is working, say leaders like Harvey Quinn and Kennedy, is investment in community violence intervention and access to resources. Kennedy mentioned recent cooperation with Detroit’s Motor City Match program and the Detroit Land Bank Authority to help those within the cycle of violence.

Harvey Quinn and Kennedy said what has also been important for the organization’s success is cross-neighborhood coordination, being both strategic and intentional, community building, outreach, and mentorship, establishing trust, caring for those who are at the center of violence, and more empathy and love.

“It’s not an easy job to look somebody in the face and have empathy when awful acts are at the heart of it. But that’s what genuinely addresses this problem,” Harvey Quinn remarked during Tuesday’s press conference.

“What solves this problem is having empathy—recognizing that trauma is the reason behind acts of violence and showing up with care, resources, love, and empathy.”

Next to Harvey Quinn stood Ray Winans of Detroit Friends and Family, his eyes filled with sorrow.

Just recently, Winans helped bring warring gang members known as the 4s and 5s together within Detroit schools to preach peace in the aftermath of a brutal January drive-by killing of 11-year-old Latrelle Mines in the city’s east side.

A big component of Force Detroit and Detroit Friends and Family’s success is involving what are called “credible messengers”—someone who has respect, is known within a neighborhood, or used to engage in violent crime themselves. Kennedy is considered a credible messenger; he’s able to create confidence and speak with folks who are at risk of violence or are acting in violence in ways that others can’t.

“We couldn’t sit back and continue to let the kids die and kill each other over nothing,” said William Nicholson, a reliable messenger from the east side who works with Detroit Friends and Family. He’d gone to Detroit schools to advocate peace after Latrelle’s killing.

“That’s our biggest drive. Just be there for them and let them know, ‘I understand what you’re going through because I’ve been there before. Some of us still be there sometimes,'” Nicholson said.

Bettison noted at Tuesday’s news conference that he believes ForceDetroit and Detroit Friends and Family have experienced results because trustworthy messengers are at the forefront of the preventive and intervention efforts. And, as Winans put it, “Detroit’s got Detroit—we don’t have any choice but to win.”