Champaign County Community Coalition Updates

There were a few updates on the work of the Community Coalition in February. Here are some of the highlights I found in the news heading into their March meeting this Wednesday (more information on that meeting here). WCCU had a quick blurb and a short video segment with highlights of the February meeting here. Excerpt:

Every month Champaign County leaders and concerned citizens gather to discuss community issues.

On Wednesday, the room was packed.

Since the last meeting in January, there have been five shootings in Champaign and six shots fired calls in Urbana.

The police chiefs continue to ask the community for their help in reporting this violence.

The coalition has also created a subcommittee to tackle gun issues — that includes developing a crisis plan when there is a shooting to keep everyone informed.

The blurb and video segment available here. A more detailed explanation of what the Community Coalition is and does at an earlier post here. Tracy Parsons, who facilitates the Community Coalition meetings, spoke later that same week as part of a lecture series at the campus YMCA on building a culture of nonviolence:

As communities across the U.S. grapple with gun violence, data from the city of Champaign suggests part of the problem stems from kids using guns to solve personal conflicts, according to Tracy Parsons, the city's community relations manager.

Parsons leads the Champaign Community Coalition, which brings together organizations and groups working to address local gun violence.

Speaking at the University of Illinois YMCA Friday Forum on February 15, Parsons said most shootings in Champaign-Urbana follow domestic incidents, or when interpersonal conflicts are handled with guns...

To help stop the shootings in Champaign-Urbana, Parsons said the University of Illinois should do more to address its root causes, which include poverty, racism, and lack of access to opportunities for black children...

Parsons said U of I faculty and staff too often swoop into black communities, collect data about kids and social issues, publish research studies, and then move on.

Full WILL article and audio segment here. WAND also had coverage in a short article and video segment on the same here. In the WAND interview he touched on the issues of reentry from the criminal justice system by formerly incarcerated people. Extreme difficulties in housing, employment, and educational opportunities can play a role a significant role in recidivism. For the latest updates on reentry issues, see this post on the most recent Champaign County Reentry Council meetings here.

As far as the crisis plan for shootings incidents, here's the explanation as I understood it from the January Community Coalition meeting:

A crisis plan is being worked on by the gun violence subcommittee of the the Community Coalition. As a community we have plans for fires and tornadoes and other tragedies, but the chaotic aftermath of gun violence still results in uncoordinated needs for trauma care, counseling, up to and including opposing gangs fighting in emergency rooms while health care providers desperately try to save lives. But it also includes a need to interrupt patterns of retaliation and community intervention to tamp down on the multiplicative effect that can have.

 Additionally, there was an update to the C-U Fresh Start program, now on its 5th call-in. Article and a short audio segment from WILL:

Eleven young men who had been involved in violent, gun-related offenses were offered a choice Thursday night --- stay on a path that could lead to prison or death, or accept an offer of help to turn their lives around. The choice was offered at a “Call-In” session held in downtown Champaign by C-U Fresh Start.

The event at the Illinois Terminal Building was the fifth such Call-In for the Fresh Start program, which was launched in 2016 by the Champaign Community Coalition, in response to a rise in gun violence in the community.

116 shooting incidents, including nine homicides, were reported in Champaign-Urbana in 2018. So far in 2019, there have been at least 16 shootings and one homicide.

The men heard messages from police, ministers, and from Shirley Bailey Phillips of Champaign, who admonished one of the young men to look at her, not at the floor, while she told how her daughter, Erica Cox, was killed by a stray bullet in 2016...

However, all of the participants who were offered help through C-U Fresh Start are 18 or older, on parole or probation, have a prior felony arrest or gun arrest or a violent crime conviction, or have been identified through credible information as having a recent involvement in violent crime.

The eleven participants later went to another room for the second part of the call-in, where they learned about the “Services Pillar” of C-U Fresh Start. This was the help they could receive in completing their parole or probation, educational and job training opportunities and help in finding employment.

More information and details at the full article here. More information about C-U Fresh Start at their webpage here. There are numerous organizations, activist groups, service providers, churches, and government collaborations working on criminal justice and equity issues from prevention to felon rights. A small sampling of organizations I've gotten to understand better are on our Organizations page with links to more information. It is far from an exhaustive list.