Milwaukee City Wire

The City of Milwaukee recently announced that it will be able to boost violence prevention programs with funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).

Milwaukee has been granted nearly $400 million from the American Rescue Act Plan for issues like education, internet access, housing and business infrastructure, and public health. The city has allocated $3 million for a violence prevention response to COVID related issues. 

"My plan takes a public health approach to violence prevention, addressing increases in crime and improving the markers of community well-being," Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett wrote in an Aug. 19 Twitter post. "It will support access to mental health services in culturally relevant settings, community healing hubs and resources for youth trauma."

Funding will target multiple different neighborhoods and includes racial equity and inclusion in the plans and goals. 

Arnitta Holliman, the new director of Milwaukee’s Office of Violence Prevention, hopes to grow the office’s size and capacity to create spaces where community members can be heard and start healing, according to Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service.

“Violence is a learned behavior,” Holliman said, according to Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service. “You can unlearn it or learn new ways of processing your emotions, new ways of handling situations that would otherwise lead to violence.”