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 Washtenaw County Violence Intervention Team 

Spring Summit 

WHAT: 

The Washtenaw County Community Violence Intervention Team (CVIT) has been working to educate ourselves, our community, our service providers, our police, and our municipal leaders on the nature of violence in our community and the solutions needed to save lives and end the perpetuation of intentional violent deaths (shooting, stabbing, assault) in our county. What began as a group of individuals concerned with violence became a cohesive team, singularly focused on eradicating street-level violence that results in death. 

Even though the concept of saving a life is something everyone can agree on, the mechanisms to achieve such a goal are not easily agreed upon. The process of developing a cohesive, singularly focused message, where we all push in the same direction was intentional as outlined in the four priorities below.  

1.      Common Understanding Based in Fact: As a team, we initially read the book Bleeding Out, by Thomas Abt. Each week we would read a chapter, debrief, learn, and grow together. It spurred conversation, provided common language, focused on data-driven solutions, taught us the science behind gun violence, and illuminated the value of a balanced approach with accountability and empathy.  
 

2.      Lifting Community Voice: Each week we were able to learn from one another and place a particular focus on those in the room and in our community with lived experience. Simply put, those who perpetuated or who have been impacted by violence are the most important voices at the table.  
 

3.      Continuous Learning: We read about, watched, or met with leading experts from around the country. This allowed us to learn from those doing the work and making real impact.  
 

4.      Action Oriented: We did not meet just to meet. Each week, for 14-months and more recently every other week for the last two years, we came together with specific action steps in mind and left building piece-by-piece towards the ultimate goal of ending intentional violent death on our streets.  

In 2023 the CVIT Spring Summit was our way of inviting the entire community into this process and joining the fight to save lives by stopping gun violence. In 2024 we built upon the original summit by focusing on what has been achieved, action, and inviting more people to the table. As we continue to focus on our four priorities of common understanding, elevating community voice, continuously learning, and being action oriented. Our plan for 2025 is to further expand the ecosystem within our region and continue to learn by highlighting the action-oriented success of those who have been leading this work.  

WHY:  

·        To learn together as a community 

·        To publicly invest in the work so we hold ourselves and others accountable 

·        For professional development across sectors 

·        To learn how we can be more effective 

·        To network with our peers, both locally and across the state 

·        To invite more local partners and stakeholders to the CVIT table so more of us are involved 

·        Coordination of existing efforts 

·        To create energy, cohesion, and momentum for action 

·        Share the great work being done so we understand our progress and know our limitations 

·        Share data related to local and national efforts 

HOW: 

In the spring of 2025, we will host the 3rd annual CVIT summit here in Washtenaw County. The summit will mimic the initial 14-month process of building a cohesive movement towards eliminating violence on our streets.  

Step 1: Our community will commit to reading Interrupting Violence by Cobe Williams, holding debrief sessions, and hosting the author at the summit.  

Step 2: The summit will consist of break-out sessions that focus on and lift up community voice while also bringing in leading experts from around the country.  

Step 3: Participants will leave with a unified voice across the various sectors in Washtenaw County and follow up with specific plans of action related to the 14-point plan developed by the CVIT and they will understand the tremendous progress made so far.  

Community Violence Intervention Team (CVIT) Recommendations

DOWNLOAD PDF OF CVIT RECOMMENDATIONS

For more information on the CVIT contact WashtenawMBK@gmail.com

 Grieving Wall Mural Project 

WHAT: 

When a young person is murdered in our community the impact of that loss can have a tremendous ripple effect on the family, friends, school, neighborhood, and larger community. When our young people do not have the opportunity or mechanisms to grieve, the trauma of losing someone can have major implications on their future. One small step we can take to help our community deal with and begin to heal is a community mural.  

The Grieving Wall Mural will be a place of reflection, remembrance, and reverence for those we have lost to violence.  

WHY:  

• Begin a community healing process 

• Allow our community to grieve 

• Acknowledge and release the pain of loss 

• Remember those we love and have lost 

• Unify the community 

• Call attention to the realities of community violence 

• Create a safe haven within the community 

• Give voice to those most impacted

Parameters:

• Washtenaw County based 

• Gun, stabbing, street violence 

• Not domestic violence, not suicides and not overdose

If your loved one falls within the parameters mentioned above and you would love their name added to the mural, please fill out the form below.