This group is taking a fresh, community-based approach to tackling violence in Topeka
Making sure the community is well starts with doing the behind-the-scenes work.
A team representing a variety of organizations, agencies and community members across Shawnee County recently began weekly meetings to discuss community violence, opportunities and current initiatives.
Courtland Davis, director of operations at YWCA Northeast Kansas, said the high number of homicides in Topeka last year is one of the things that led to a lot of action and reaction in the community.
"Essentially, the way that I became a part of this organization, became part of it towards a group of concerned citizens who decided that this needs to be, that we need to take the community approach with this, that we need to look at this in a different manner than it had been examined in the past," Davis said.
What is the coalition trying to achieve?
The coalition hopes to create a solution for members of the community who have been affected by the homicide of a loved one or other acts of violence. They are looking to see how they can decrease violence in upcoming years by understanding violence risks and protective factors in the community.
Coming up with a model for how the program will work is still in progress, but the next approach is "going to have to be very organic, because it's easy to sit at a desk or in an office or at city hall and use that experience to try to determine what a community does and doesn't need," Davis told The Capital-Journal. "We're going to go to community centers and we're going through Q&A's, and we're going to try to meet people where they are — not in the rhetorical sense, but in a very literal sense.
"So, we've identified a few area codes that we will do kind of listening sessions."
Along with Q&A's and conversations, the group will use the "regular old school boots on the ground door knocking and really trying to figure out what the folks in these communities need."
NACCHO grant funding awarded to community coalition
As one of four teams awarded $30,000 in funding by the National Association of County and City Health Officials, the organization now equipped with the support resources needed to complete a comprehensive community violence assessment.
The NACCHO grant’s goal is to leverage multisector partnerships to enhance — not duplicate or run counter to — existing violence prevention efforts in the selected communities, a news release said.
The awarded grant is strictly for going out in the community and figuring out what a program will look like and nailing down the details while gathering data to support the initiative, Davis said.
'We'll be in the community, not like a way we've seen in the past'
Topeka and Shawnee County recorded 35 homicides last year, with 31% of victims were younger than 18 years old and 60% succumbing to violence at the hands of adults. Firearms were used in 68% of 2023 homicides across all ages, the news release said.
This impact is magnified within the Black/African-American community, with a homicide rate 10 times higher than that of white residents.
Davis said he understands the frustrations the community may feel when they see initiatives like this, because sometimes it feels like there's more talking than doing.
"And if I wasn't directly involved, I might react the same way," he said. "I mean, some of these things that we're talking about, especially in marginalized communities, it's kind of get used to being let down. There's this big push.
"But I think what I would say is I understand a person feeling that way because it's just more words, but just wait for the actions because we'll be there. We'll be in the community and not, I think in a way that we've seen in the past."
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Allison Marker, director of community engagement YWCA Northeast Kansas, said although this is a new coalition, the YWCA isn't new to this type of work.
"We see victims of violence come through our doors every single day, and we feel that frustration with our community," Marker told The Capital-Journal. "We are many victims and survivors who work here as well. And so that's also why this work is so important to our larger programming and mission and why I think it's a broader coalition that has to be able to make this a success, but that we are helping lead that charge.
"We've had similar success with maybe not such deep work, but a similar model in the past with our voter engagement and voter education efforts. So, it's really sort of just coming back to that grassroots kind of model."
Who are the members involved in the coalition?
Members of the coalition include the following:
Teresa Taylor, trauma outreach and forensic program manager, Stormont Vail Health.
Annie Buckland, injury and violence prevention coordinator, Stormont Vail Health.
Teresa Fisher, director, Shawnee County Health Department.
Christina Valdiva-Alcala, councilwoman, City of Topeka.
Henry Harmon, administrative sergeant, Shawnee County Sheriff's Department.
Capt. Joe Rucker, deputy director, Shawnee County Department of Corrections.
Daniel Martin, social worker, Empowering People in Communities.
Jake Regnier, Pamela Berry, Raymon Berry, Betsy Wiens, JUMP Violence Reduction Team.
LaRonna Lassiter Saunders,My Better America & Bridging the Gap.
Carl Frazier, director, Topeka Center for Peace & Justice.
Dustyn Whyte, recreation manager, Shawnee County Parks and Recreation.
Felecia Cunningham, SNCO Community health worker, Project COPE.
Corey Fox, One Heart.
Tony Barksdale.
Derrick Hodam.
Danielle Twemlow.
To learn more about how to get involved, contact cvi@ywcaneks.org.
Keishera Lately is the business reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. She can be reached at klately@cjonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @Lately_KT.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Group takes new community-based approach to lessening Topeka violence
