Stronger Together: North Lawndale Collaborative Hosts Day of Learning, Strategizing Between Chicago CVI Groups

Attendees present at a Community Violence Intervention (CVI) convening hosted by the North Lawndale Collaborative on Tuesday, July 29, 2025 in Homan Square.

The spirit of collaboration was alive and well as Community Violence Intervention (CVI) professionals from across Chicago came together for a day of learning and strategizing ways to keep the North Lawndale area safe. The meeting, hosted by the North Lawndale Collaborative (NLC), took place on Tuesday, July 29, 2025 at UCAN’s headquarters in Homan Square.

Staff members representing Metropolitan Peace Initiatives (MPI), Communities Partnering 4 Peace (CP4P), Chicago CRED, Firehouse Community Arts Center (FCAC), and Northwestern University’s Center for Neighborhood Engaged Research and Science (CORNERS) were all in attendance to network with one another and continue to strengthen the ties that bind them in the fight against gun violence. 

NLC Director Kathy Cullick navigated attendees through the day as they engaged in a variety of interactive exercises, small group discussions, and information sharing about their respective organizations.

“[This collective] is like a rope. When one of the strings starts to break, it gets weaker and weaker and weaker. We only have a strong rope unless everyone is in sync together,” Cullick said. “[…] Organizations need to work together to solve one problem. No one organization can do it on its own.”

Attendees take a “gallery walk” to learn more about the CVI organizations in the room.

Early in the day, attendees broke the ice by sharing their reasons for getting into the work of CVI, with most connecting over the desire to serve their communities and bring peace to Chicago’s streets. The group also took time to learn more about each organization through a “gallery walk,” as staff members illustrated their services, mission, and values.

Several activities focused on cross-collaboration and encouraged the group to find ways to work together to serve individuals and their communities. In one particular exercise, attendees split off into small groups and were asked to identify a challenge they experience in their organizations. They then needed to create an action plan.

While these hypothetical challenges varied from group to group, it became clear that the solutions would require cooperation and partnership from multiple organizations and community stakeholders across the city. And what started out as a simple exercise, ended with attendees discussing plans for the future.

UCAN Violence Intervention and Prevention Services Youth Coach Jimmie Lee shares his reasons for getting into the work of CVI.

“This collaborative has been in place for a number of years, but we haven’t gotten the workers together nearly often enough,” said Paul Robinson, Chief Program Officer at Chicago CRED, in closing out the day. “All of you are the reason why violence is down 50 percent in North Lawndale. Programs don’t change — people and relationships do. […] Let’s keep building this network so we can get stronger and better together.”

The NLC — which includes MPI, CP4P, Chicago CRED, FCAC, and CORNERS — was formed in 2022 after a spike in violence in North Lawndale. The collective and its strategy have served as the blueprint for the larger “Scaling Community Violence Intervention for a Safer Chicago” (SC2) initiative, a citywide effort between CVI groups, philanthropic, business, and government leaders with the shared goal of reducing gun violence across the city.