We Are Violence Prevention

A safer Chicago is possible. In four of the most segregated, under-resourced, and heavily policed neighborhoods in Chicago, we’re disrupting the lethal cycle of violence, cultivating restorative justice, and nurturing real change.

Join us. Together we can end violence in this city we all love.

One of the main ways we often try to end violence in this country is through incarceration. And it hasn’t been working. But our solution does. For over 12 years, at LCLC we’ve been preventing violence by keeping young people out of the prison system, out of the lethal arrest/incarcerate/rearrest/repeat cycle and by connecting them with the holistic community support they need to find a meaningful path forward.

87%

87% of active LCLC clients were NOT rearrested

(for new case or technical violation)

Criminal Legal Defense

We work exclusively with Chicago’s young adults under 25 trapped in the cycle of crime, poverty, and violence - 89% of our clients are male. 98% are black. 29% are under age 18. We help them avoid incarceration and permanent felony records, and offer holistic support.

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Holistic Approach

93% of our clients live with two or more of the highest risk factors for violence. We connect our clients to wraparound support services that address these risk factors and their needs for housing, education, mental health services, drug treatment and employment.

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Restorative Justice

Restorative Justice helps end violence by righting wrongs and repairing harm to the community by working with the community. LCLC is the lead community agency for North Lawndale's first-ever Restorative Justice Community Court (RJCC).

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1 out of 3 African-American boys born today can expect to be sentenced to prison.*

And once youth have entered the criminal justice system, their odds of permanently exiting it are devastatingly small.

That’s why Justice Rising: Project 77 began.

Justice Rising: Project 77 is a coalition committed to community-led restorative justice throughout the 77 neighborhoods of Chicago. In each of these neighborhoods, clients under 25 are provided with an LCLC attorney, and surrounded by services from Justice Rising partners.

Together, we connect each youth or young adult to services for employment, school, trauma counseling, health care, mental health, entrepreneurship, mentoring, housing, spiritual guidance, sports, violence prevention, and substance abuse. And the vision for justice doesn’t stop here.

*Source: https://naacp.org/resources/criminal-justice-fact-sheet

Imagine a Chicago without violence. With your support, it IS possible. Together, we can go beyond just preventing violence in this city we love. Together, we can end it.