This group has a list of people most likely to be shot and they're reaching out before violence erupts

HOPEWELL, Va. -- Marvin Gilliam, pastor of The Mount Carmel Baptist Church and Co-President of Richmonders Involved in Strengthening our Communities (RISC), has personally grappled with the ripple effects of gun violence.

“December 2021, I lost a cousin on South Side," Gilliam said. "It’s impacting my congregation who some of them were at the Huguenot High School shooting that took place in June, some of whom have been impacted by gun violence very recently, even as recently as the beginning of this year."

He and other members of RISC have been pushing for something like Real Life's "Project Safe and Alive" to come to Richmond.

“There is a community responsibility for us to show up and speak up and for us to kind of own our communities in a positive way, but there’s also a role for those who have decision making power to put practices and things in place that are proven to work," Gilliam said.

The project is proving to work in Hopewell. According to the nonprofit, between June and December of 2023, shootings that either resulted in injury or death were reduced by 71 percent, compared to that same time in 2022.

“We identified 42 people that were most likely to shoot or be shot in the entire city. Hopewell is small, 11 square miles, 24,000 people, but out of 24,000 people, we’re really looking at 42 that are the likely shooters or to be victims of gun violence," said Sarah Scarbrough, the nonprofit's founder and director.

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Life coaches that work with the nonprofit tried to meet with all 42 people in Hopewell considered to be at risk, offering access to essential items like food and clothing, as well as mentoring and financial assistance.

“Our life coaches that go out and knock on the door, they’re graduates of our program, so they’ve been there, they’ve done that, they’ve had violence in their past, they’ve witnessed violence, so them sharing that opportunity of hope is so incredibly powerful," Scarbrough.

Scarbrough said a big part of their work is preventing future gun violence, often stemming from retaliation.

"Through this program, often we can't stop initial gun fire, but what it really aims to do is stop retaliation. We know that one instance of gunfire typically leads to four retaliations, and so if we're able to stop some of all of those four, think about the better state," Scarbrough explained.

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Real Life is now planning to partner with Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority. Scarbrough said while the program is in its planning phase now, it will likely start deploying life coaches within RRHA neighborhoods this summer.

It's not necessarily tenets of public housing that are causing the violence," Scarbrough said. "It's really people coming in and causing it, and then going out, so that's what we're really going to work to identify."

"Through this program, often we can't stop initial gun fire, but what it really aims to do is stop retaliation. We know that one instance of gunfire typically leads to four retaliations, and so if we're able to stop some of all of those four, think about the better state."

Scarbrough said the program has also worked with young people in middle and high school, trying to prevent violence before it starts.

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Gilliam, a former high school teacher with Richmond Public Schools, says that's something he can get behind.

"I can barely remember a summer or school year that wasn't impacted in some way by gun violence," Gilliam said. "For the program to work, it takes everybody. It takes all parts. It takes community, these social services and other services the city has to offer, it takes law enforcement coming together and working together, in a way, that I think, will help to impact and decrease the crime we're seeing.

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