KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Kalamazoo area officials may begin funding anti-gun violence prevention in a new way, setting up a special fund at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation.
The effort began with both the City and Kalamazoo County allocating $1 million in Covid-19 federal funding each to address a murder rate that doubled during the pandemic, particularly focusing on teen gun violence. That led to increased attention on Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety’s street intervention programs and also resulted in the Blueprint for Peace.
County Administrator Kevin Catlin says they are negotiating with the Kalamazoo Community Foundation to set up a Field of Interest Fund that the Foundation would administer.
“This fund allows the board to continue to infuse the money from year to year and it will continue to grow.”
County Commissioner Tami Rey says the purpose would be to fund non-profits who are on the front lines working to reduce gun violence, and would include such services as violence prevention, intervention, youth engagement, victim Support, and other initiatives designed to reduce the occurrence and impacts of gun violence throughout Kalamazoo County.
They agreed to call it the “Pathways to Peace Fund” if negotiations go as planned, and will contribute $200,000 in seed money for the fund.
Rey and two other commissioners would sit on a Foundation Advisory Board that would recommend how the money is spent.
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