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The Violence Prevention Initiative was innovative in that it approached violence from a public health perspective and took into consideration the concomitant forces that increase risk in communities, such as lack of access to jobs, poor educational systems, lack of health care and affordable housing, racism and discrimination. Prior approaches from the fields of criminal justice and medicine tended to focus on violence after the fact. The VPI framework, addressing “root causes,” provided an opportunity to prevent violence from occurring in the first place, with an emphasis on reducing access to handguns to reduce the lethality of the violence. TCWF was the first major health foundation to approach the issue of violence in this way; the Foundation’s decision proved to be a groundbreaking moment in the field of violence prevention and in philanthropy.

There were four interactive components in the VPI: the Policy Program, Community Action Grants (CAG) Program, Leadership Program, and the Research Program. While conceptually distinct, these components were seen as essentially interdependent and interactive to obtain the greatest impact. At the direction of the Board, staff assumed responsibility for the overall coordination of the VPI. All components were initially funded through a competitive Request For Proposal (RFP) process.

At the midpoint of the Initiative, staff made an assessment and reached the following conclusions and decisions: All of the components remained intact with the exception of the research program; only nine of the original Community Action sites continued as grantees; and more funding was allocated for technical assistance for the original sites in the Community Action Grants Program. Additionally, the Policy Program was refocused on two policy goals: policies reducing firearm injury, and increasing funding for comprehensive violence prevention programs highlighting promising programs and strategies.