On Monday, October 25, 2021, the Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia (AVP), in partnership with the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office's Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement for Survivors of Homicides (CARES) Unit, Beloved Care Project (BCP), and Penn Injury Science Center (PISC), is re-opening its West/Southwest office located at 5548 Chestnut Street and announcing the launch of the West/Southwest Collaborative to Reduce Gun Violence (WSW Collaborative). There will be an open house, with refreshments, food, and a raffle, from 12:30-4:00pm.

The WSW Collaborative seeks to embody a cross-section coordination of expertise, skills, and services from the public, nonprofit, and grassroots levels to collectively address the scale and complexity of gun violence in West and Southwest Philadelphia. West/Southwest Philadelphia represents one of two main geographic areas in Philadelphia that has the highest concentrated violence, and has particularly endured staggering increases in gun violence in the past year.

The vision is simple:

Together, we can end the cycle of violence.

Encompassing 2,960 square feet of space, AVP's WSW office has been transformed into a shared communal hub for the Collaborative. By convening AVP, BCP, CARES and PISC in one centralized space, it allows each organization to work in close collaboration to complement services, align programmatic activities, and maximize responses to the immediate individual and community needs of the surrounding neighborhoods. It also enables a centralized infrastructure, a dedicated staff, and structured processes for a common agenda, shared measurement, continuous communication, and mutually reinforcing activities between the organizations.

Similar to a community resource center, this transformed space will provide structured activities in a communal setting that provide service linkages to address existing gaps in community resources (e.g., ongoing food assistance) and promote healing, recovery, and violence prevention through traditional and non-traditional therapies and healing practices (e.g., cognitive behavioral therapy, support groups, yoga therapy, healing circles).

This incredible feat has been quite the labor of love, in the face of many challenges, including extremely limited resources.

We are asking for your support to help our transformation of this space into an inviting and healing space that brings our communities and organizations together to collectively reduce gun violence and commence a new chapter for Philadelphians.

Support AVP's Transformation of its West/Southwest Office

By Anti-Violence Partnership of Philadelphia

Support AVP's Transformation of its West/Southwest Office

Help us transform our West office into the Hub for the West/Southwest Collaborative to Reduce Gun Violence