The D.C. attorney general’s office’s Leaders of Tomorrow program will provide up to $250,000 grants to nonprofits dedicated to curbing youth violence.
“We’re at an unacceptable state in our city in terms of addressing public safety,” Attorney General Brian Schwalb said. “It’s incumbent upon all of us, government and community, to do everything we can.”
He said D.C. can’t arrest its way out of the youth crime problem.
“We also have to complement the policing and prosecution work with prevention work,” he said.
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The District is looking to support organizations already on the ground “to try address what we know are some of the root causes that lead to crime.”
Organizations like Hood Smart: The Urban STEMulus Project — as in science, technology, engineering and math. Ateya Ball-Lacy has run the group for 12 years. It assumes the community role Schwalb spoke of, working to prevent youth crime by being proactive.
“We know that there’s a narrative around who our young people are in our major cities, however that narrative does not support who the majority of our children are,” she said.
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Hood Smart holds events that put professionals with young people, fostering and rewarding their achievements. It sponsors chess tournaments, teaching life skills that go beyond the board.
Ball-Lacy said her organization will be applying for the grant.
“I’ll tell you, up until maybe the last year or two, all of the funding came from my family,” she said.
The deadline to apply for the grants is 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 2.
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