Christie Clinic is partnering with local businesses and organizations to invest $300,000 to fight violent crime in Champaign County. We are joined by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Busey Bank, Carle Health, OSF HealthCare and the United Way of Champaign County, each of which is investing $50,000.
The funds, named Investment for Impact, will be allocated to the United Way of Champaign County to address immediate solutions to violent crime, as well as long-term solutions to address underlying factors and patterns that lead to future violent behavior.
Investment for Impact is inspired by and in partnership with Victory over Violence, a solutions-driven response to address violence, begun last fall by WCIA-TV in partnership with the United Way of Champaign County.
Since the initiative launched, 12 programs have received $5,000 each for a total of $60,000 distributed in the community. Funded programs include Shop with a Cop, a program that fosters positive relationships between police officers, children and families; Goal Getters, a partnership with Unit 4 Schools that provides academic and behavioral guidance and mentorship to high school students; and the reward fund for Champaign County Crime Stoppers. The goal of Investment for Impact is to continue to invest in these efforts and expand programming.
Investment for Impact further strengthens the university’s Call to Action to Address Racism and Social Injustice and builds on the work done by the Campus-Community Compact to Accelerate Social Justice, which works with the cities and community organizations to combat systemic racism in our community with six focus areas: accessible technology; community relations; economic development; health, wealth and resilience; inclusive education and workforce development.
Funds are managed and administered by United Way. Learn more at their Victory over Violence webpage.