Reducing Community Violence in Delaware: What’s Working — and What It Will Take to Sustain It

image above courtsey of Ending community Violence Now

Community violence is often framed as an intractable problem, but leaders working across Delaware say the data — and their lived experience — tell a different story. When prevention efforts are rooted in community trust, credible leadership, and coordinated systems, real reductions are possible.

From neighborhood-level mentoring to statewide violence intervention strategies, Delaware offers a growing body of evidence that solutions work when they are aligned, funded, and centered on people closest to the harm.

Solutions Start With Proximity

For Cammerin Norwood, a community leader and Founder of Our ROOTS Foundation, effective violence reduction begins not with policy, but with presence.

“You can’t build solutions from the outside looking in,” Norwood said. “You have to be embedded in the communities that are actually impacted. You have to hear directly from the people living this.”

Norwood describes civic engagement and democracy as active practices — showing up consistently, listening deeply, and building trust over time. Without that, he argues, even well-intentioned policies fall short.

A Measurable Outcome, One Life at a Time

Norwood shared the story of a young man he mentored through a violence-intervention program — recently released from incarceration after a shooting and trying to change his life while still navigating dangerous family and neighborhood dynamics.

There were moments when tensions escalated in real time, requiring direct intervention to prevent violence.

“Sometimes our lives were on the line,” Norwood said. “But that’s what it took in that moment.”

Today, that same young man has graduated high school, enrolled in college, and is playing basketball.

“That’s the outcome people don’t always see,” Norwood said. “But that’s what success looks like.”

Addressing the Roots of Conflict

For Kaligah Parker, founder of the Carry Their Light Project, violence often stems from something less visible than weapons or crime statistics.

“A lot of violence is rooted in miscommunication,” Parker said. “And miscommunication usually comes from unresolved trauma.”

Parker believes community safety depends on creating spaces where people can process grief, loss, and conflict before it escalates. After the murder of his best friend, he observed a shift in his community.

“People slowed down,” he said. “There was a moment where folks realized things were getting out of hand.”

That pause, he believes, created space for reflection and dialogue — an often-overlooked component of prevention.

image courtsey of Ending community Violence Now

Small Interventions, Real Impact

Parker co-hosted Operation Good Brother, a community-based event focused on conflict resolution and emotional expression among men. Even as a single event, the outcomes were immediate.

“We saw real conflicts get resolved,” Parker said. “Men expressing things they normally wouldn’t. A lot of miscommunication got cleared up in that room.”

For Parker, the lesson is clear: prevention does not always require large-scale infrastructure — but it does require intentional design.

Scaling What Works at the State Level

While grassroots efforts lay the foundation, Lauren Footman, Executive Director of End Community Violence Now (ECVN), focuses on ensuring those approaches are resourced, coordinated, and sustainable statewide.

ECVN is a public-private partnership that supports Delaware’s community violence intervention ecosystem through funding, professional development, and strategic alignment.

“Community violence intervention is still an emerging field,” Footman said. “What we’re learning is that outcomes improve when data, lived experience, and wraparound services are aligned.”

One of the clearest examples is Laurel, Delaware, where group violence intervention (GVI) strategies — paired with credible messengers and peer support — have led to zero shootings and zero homicides since implementation.

“That doesn’t happen by accident,” Footman said. “It happens when communities are supported with the right resources and trusted leadership.”

Healing as a Prevention Strategy

Footman also emphasizes that violence prevention must include trauma-informed responses — especially for families directly impacted by gun violence.

Early in her tenure, she met a mother who had lost her child and was determined that the loss would not be in vain.

“She wanted her child’s death to be connected to solutions,” Footman said.

Over time, that mother became a public advocate, using her lived experience to support healing efforts and policy conversations across the state.

“That’s what it looks like when grief is met with support instead of silence,” Footman said.

The Funding Challenge Ahead

Despite promising results, Footman is candid about the challenges ahead. Community violence intervention faces a tightening funding landscape, including reduced federal support and the closure of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention.

“This work has become even more hyperlocal,” she said. “States and local governments are being asked to fill growing gaps.”

Footman sees opportunity in rethinking how resources are deployed — from aligning education, health, and social services funding to engaging the private sector more strategically.

“No community is untouched by gun violence,” she said. “The question is whether we’re willing to invest in what we already know works.”

A Shared Lesson

Across Delaware, one lesson stands out: violence reduction is not just about enforcement or punishment — it’s about rebuilding connection.

From mentors stepping into moments of crisis, to community dialogues resolving conflict, to statewide systems preventing shootings altogether, the evidence suggests that coordinated, community-led solutions can — and do — save lives.