Eddie’s House co-founder Marion Campbell (C) accepts a grant from Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner (L). (Photo courtesy of DA Larry Krasner’s office/The Philadelphia Tribune).
By Naiser Warren-Robinson
PHILADELPHIA — An organization that helps city youth who have aged out of foster care is among the beneficiaries of the latest round of gun violence prevention grants overseen by District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office.
The organization, Eddie’s House, which provides transitional housing, re-entry support, and mentoring programming, received $40,000, according to Krasner’s office.
“Eddie’s House has evolved from solely providing foster care into a variety of restorative practices,” its co-founder, Marion Campbell, told the Philadelphia Tribune. “Our mission has always been about empowering others, be they individuals or families. With this critically important grant, we will be able to continue providing services to the communities we serve and improving the lives of young people.”
Krasner’s office doled out $250,000 in grants during the latest round of funding. Twelve community organizations received checks ranging from $10,000-$45,000. All told, the DA’s office says it’s disbursed more than $1 million to more than 45 community organizations over the life of the office’s Violence Prevention Initiative program.
“In the midst of a wave of tragic gun violence, it’s easy to stray away from the notion that prevention remains an important tool — but that would be a mistake,” Krasner said. “While my office will continue to vigorously prosecute those who commit violence, this administration will also continue working on long-term solutions to this public health and safety crisis. This latest round of violence prevention grants is part of that strategy.”
According to Krasner, grant selection is a “complicated process” in which the Philadelphia foundation, a nonprofit community foundation specializing in grantmaking, checking applications and providing recommendations based on “various criteria.”
The grants are then distributed to community organizations serving the Philadelphia area with smaller budgets (defined by having less than $5 million) and are dedicated towards violence prevention.
“This is in fact the result of a lot of work that goes on within the district attorney’s office,” said Krasner. “We do not randomly give out money.”
During the weekly gun crime update, Krasner highlighted Philadelphia’s declining homicide rate, attributing it towards the lessening effects of the pandemic.
“It is encouraging to see what I guess we all should’ve expected from the beginning,” said Krasner. “Which is that when society starts to return to normal, things get better.”
The district attorney’s violence prevention initiative began giving out grants in May 2021 through its forfeiture fund, money collected by the DA’s office from various criminal investigations.
“Within our office it is also a lot of work to make sure that there is a commitment to the money being used for proper services and that there is accountability,” Krasner said.
Naiser Warren-Robinson is a reporter for the Philadelphia Tribune, where this story first appeared.
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