By combining rapid response with sustained engagement, our Safe Streets teams help make our neighborhoods safer—block by block, relationship by relationship.
ALSO’s Community Violence Programming
By combining on-the-ground violence prevention and intervention with personalized, wraparound supports, Safe Streets addresses both the urgent crises and the deeper barriers that keep individuals and families at risk. Our outreach, victim crisis services, and case management services form an integrated approach that not only helps heal the harm caused by violence, but also strengthens the resilience of entire communities.
Community Violence Outreach Services
ALSO’s Safe Streets Outreach Teams work at the frontlines of community violence prevention in Chicago, focusing on those at the highest risk of either experiencing or perpetrating violence. Our trained outreach workers —many with lived experience in the neighborhoods they serve—build trust through personal relationships and social networks, often connecting with individuals involved in street organizations, recently incarcerated, or recovering from violence.
Operating 24/7, our peacekeeper team responds within hours to shootings and homicides, mediating conflicts, preventing retaliation, and linking participants to vital services. Through conflict mediation, mentoring, and targeted outreach in violence hot spots, Safe Streets staff work to defuse tensions before they escalate, support healing after incidents, and foster long-term pathways away from violence.
Our aim is for these initial connections to grow into broader engagement and enrollment in our Safe Streets Resilience wrap-around case management services for continued support.
Community Violence Victim Services
Experiencing gun violence is a traumatic event that deeply affects both survivors and their families. ALSO’s Safe Streets Victim Services respond swiftly and holistically to support those impacted by shootings and homicides in our communities. Our Victim Services provides rapid, compassionate support to survivors and families affected by shootings and homicides. Within 4 hours of notification, our outreach workers and victim advocates respond to connect with victims, assess safety risks, and develop personalized safety plans to prevent retaliation.
We offer practical assistance, including temporary relocation, food and supplies, help with victim compensation claims, and advocacy for court, housing, and school needs. For families grieving a loss, we provide funeral planning support and grief counseling.
Once immediate needs are met, our trauma-informed team offers ongoing emotional support, counseling, and accompaniment to court and police proceedings, and encourages connecting with our Resilience Case Management Services for longer-term support.
Resilience Case Management Services
Enrolled Safe Streets participants have access to wraparound case management and victim services designed to address immediate needs and build long-term stability through our Safe Streets Resilience Program. Upon enrollment, dedicated staff work side-by-side with participants to navigate complex challenges and access the resources they need to heal and thrive.
Case managers are involved in relentless engagement and accompaniment for each individual to coordinate their efforts. These comprehensive supports include assistance with funeral arrangements, connections to educational opportunities, job readiness and placement, and securing essential identification documents—often the first step in accessing housing, employment, and benefits.
By pairing violence interruption with personalized case management, Safe Streets addresses both the urgent crises and the underlying barriers that keep individuals and families at risk, creating real pathways toward safety, stability, and self-sufficiency.
Our case management services include:
- Needs assessment and service plan
- Access to workforce and education supports
- Economic assistance (e.g., funeral and medical victimization-related costs)
- Systems navigation (e.g., SNAP, school, Medicaid, healthcare)
- Legal assistance (i.e, expungement and sealing of records)
- Access to counseling/behavioral health services
Are you interested in enrolling in our Safe Streets program?
- If you are not in contact already with one of our other programs, please email us at [email protected] or call our ALSO’s general number at (773) 235-5705 to be connected with a Safe Streets Resilience team member.
- Our staff will conduct an intake screening to determine if you are eligible for services.
- If you meet the eligibility criteria to receive services, you will be enrolled in our program.