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Council approves $1.057 million African American Empowerment Network grant to expand violence-intervention work citywide
Summary
The City Council approved an agreement to fund the African American Empowerment Network (Omaha 360) for $1,057,287 from the FY2024 Community-Based Violence Intervention and Prevention (CVIP) grant; network leaders outlined partner organizations, citywide intent and monitoring plans.
The Omaha City Council approved an agreement with the African American Empowerment Network (Omaha 360) for $1,057,287 funded through the fiscal year 2024 Community-Based Violence Intervention and Prevention (CVIP) grant.
Willie Barney, representing the Empowerment Network, told the council the grant will support expansion of targeted violence-intervention efforts and formalize partnerships among local organizations, the University of Nebraska at Omaha School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, and Nebraska Medicine. Barney listed partner organizations that will be involved in implementation, including U360 (Jennifer Clark), North Omaha Community Partnership (Tamika Meese), Code Z (Latron Lewis), Visionary Lion (Leo Lewis), Riley Protection Group (Brian Riley) and Viable Healing (Roscoe Wallace).
Council members asked for clarification about how funds would reach South Omaha and other parts of the city; Barney and other proponents said the program is not geographically limited and that participating organizations already do work citywide. Barney described a large public-engagement effort and said more than 1,000 participants contributed to the strategy’s development. He also offered to provide additional written detail and to meet with council members for follow-up.
Why it matters: The grant supports community-based violence-intervention work that aims to reduce retaliatory gun violence and strengthen street-outreach and family-response services. Council members asked for accountability and citywide reporting; proponents agreed to additional reporting and periodic briefings.
Votes and procedure: After discussion and public comment, the council approved the agreement 7-0.
Details and next steps: Barney agreed to provide the council with the list of subgrantees and partners and to meet with council members for updates; a formal project period runs from Oct. 1, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2027, per application materials presented during discussion.
