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Lincoln Hospital’s ‘Guns Down, Life Up’ outlines hospital‑based violence interruption model and seeks letters of support
Summary
James Dobbin of Lincoln Hospital described the Guns Down, Life Up Hospital Violence Intervention Program, presented outreach and enrollment metrics, and asked Bronx community boards for letters of support to expand the program’s catchment areas and youth employment slots.
James Dobbin, identified in the transcript as director at New York City Health + Hospitals/Lincoln, presented the Guns Down, Life Up hospital violence intervention program to Bronx Community Board 1 and asked the board for letters of support to expand the model across additional Bronx catchment areas.
Dobbin described a three‑pronged model that includes hospital‑based responders, community outreach and youth employment tied to the anti‑gun violence program. "We started out some youth employment program. We started off with 10 slots, then we had 20 slots, then we have 40 slots. Today, we have 81 slots," he said, and added the anti‑gun employment track targets at‑risk young people rather than relying on a lottery.
Outreach supervisor Will Mora provided recent operational metrics: over the previous six months his team recorded 8,256 community engagements during canvassing, 2,461 direct participant contacts, approximately 67 home visits and more than 475 one‑on‑one sessions; he said the program actively maintains a waiting list and cannot yet service all enrolled youth without additional staff and funding.
Hospital responder Maria Lopez described seasonal trends and caseloads: she said the program sees rising numbers of stab and gunshot wounds in warmer months and that the hospital‑based responder team is paged when patients arrive in the emergency department to begin bedside engagement and warm handoffs to community partners.
Several board members and district managers praised the model and asked about expansion routes and funding. Dobbin said the program is eligible to justify expansion in RFP rounds and that letters of support from community boards would strengthen applications for additional catchment areas and funding. Several speakers urged the program to seek private sponsors and wider agency coordination.
Program participants and alumni shared testimony about recovery and reentry; one former participant described receiving in‑hospital support and later working as an outreach worker for the program.
Next steps: Guns Down, Life Up requested letters of support from Bronx community boards to support expansion in additional Bronx catchment areas; program staff offered to circulate flyers for the community circle safety meetings and to provide contact information for follow‑up.
