Community IMPACT: Imagining Multidisciplinary Pathways to Assist, Care & Thrive

This proposal addresses the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) Fiscal Year 2021 solicitation Services to Support Victims of Hate Crime and Strengthen Communities. Futures Without Violence (hereinafter “FUTURES”) applies to establish the program Community IMPACT: Imagining Multidisciplinary Pathways to Assist, Care & Thrive (hereinafter “Community IMPACT”) to strengthen the capacity of the victim services field to better serve and support victims of hate crime. We propose to center the needs of victims of hate crime by engaging change-making organizations nationwide – especially organizations serving high-poverty areas or persistent-poverty counties – and developing a replicable cadre of leaders who can promote promising practices for individual and community healing.

Acts motivated by animus against another person’s immutable characteristics are exceptionally violative and senseless. Bias-motivated incidents are severely underreported due to the minimization of crimes of harassment or simple assault, fear of retribution or deportation, victim-blaming, and a general lack of trust or low confidence in meaningful systemic responses. Hate crime traumatizes and marginalizes victims, conveys to those who share identities with victims that they also are unwelcome and in danger, and undermines public safety for all. A coordinated approach to service provision provides the most responsive, trauma-informed, individualized, and efficient mechanism to meet victim needs. Further, coordinated approaches facilitate improved community-oriented law enforcement efforts and maximize effective interdisciplinary cross-training.

Community IMPACT will partner with expert activists and community leaders experienced in supporting victims of hate crime and constructively responding to communities impacted by hate. We will convene a Program Development Committee to lead the co-creation of tools and strategies for communities nationwide to utilize and adapt. The Program Development Committee will develop a process to identify and partner with 12 organizations nationwide that will receive subgrants to engage in a collaborative process to create or enhance their community-based responses to survivors of hate crimes in a victim-centered, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed manner.

Community IMPACT sites will participate in an Innovation Convening and virtual educational and information-sharing sessions, and receive technical assistance on specific needs. Ultimately, Community IMPACT will utilize key learnings from the community of learning and practice and create and disseminate a user-friendly compendium of lessons learned, strategies, and adaptable tools for communities nationwide.