Community groups urge Essex County to fund and formalize violence-intervention supports

Several community-based organizations told Essex County commissioners that local, trauma-informed programs are reducing violence and need sustained funding and formal referral pathways.

Marielle Hufnagel, chief operating officer of the Hub Arts and Trauma Center, and CEO Alteric Best described the Hub’s 2024 activities: more than 4,500 incident responses, over 600 mediations/de-escalations, roughly 500 unduplicated youth served, hundreds of restorative-justice circles and therapeutic-art sessions, and workforce-development trainings. "When you're thriving, you don't need to participate in gun violence," Hufnagel said, summarizing the Hub’s prevention approach.

Best and other speakers asked the county to create formal referral pathways from the juvenile-justice system and courts to community providers, to consider line-item support in the county budget, and to prioritize partnerships so that programs can scale. Best noted the Hub’s own investment of about $200,000 to acquire and expand its facility and asked commissioners for sustainable support.

Representatives from Hear My Cries and Mending Hearts Together described grief-support, mentoring and year-round programming for survivors and families; Kevin Baker, a parent who lost two sons to gun violence, urged accessible healing spaces and ongoing outreach. Danielle Francois of the Essex County Family Justice Center underscored the need to include undocumented survivors in services and to ensure that restraining orders listing firearms result in police action when safe to do so.

Commissioners thanked speakers, praised community partnerships and asked staff to compile contact information and follow-up items for future committee meetings and budget deliberations.