Kelli Bonner knows all about the value of Peoria Community Against Violence and the victims’ services the agency provides.
“I am a direct result of PCAV because I'm still standing here today. There came a point where I lost my mind, I lost my business, I almost lost my job, and almost lost my home,” said Bonner, whose son Kandon Bonner was killed in a shooting on May 26, 2001. “I still have a place to live, I did not lose my home, thanks to PCAV, all of its supporters, and everyone.”
Becky Rossman, PCAV’s chief executive officer, announced Wednesday the nonprofit victims’ services organization faces an impending closure on Nov. 30 if it cannot come up with $300,000 to cover 12 months in operational expenses.
“We are the only organization in Peoria working with the victims, the families and sometimes the perpetrators of gun violence,” Rossman said during a news conference outside the PCAV office. “Our team of three — working closely with Peoria police department, their amazing chaplain team, and other community organizations — has saved lives and change lives.”
Rossman said a “perfect storm of factors” led to PCAV’s financial predicament, including a decrease in funding through the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA).
“The federal funding that supports PCAV and anti-gun violence initiatives will discontinue nationwide on Dec. 1, even though gun violence is at an all-time high,” Rossman said. “Local funders are pulling back the amount of support with the impending recession. PCAV applied for the City of Peoria anti-violence grant, but was not a recipient — and that's OK because as I’ve said, everyone is needed because this is a multi-layered systemic issue that requires everyone to be part of the solution.”
Established in 2014 as part of the “Don’t Shoot Initiative,” PCAV has grown into an organization providing support services and case management for individuals and families directly impacted by gun violence.
Peoria Police Chief Eric Echevarria said PCAV plays a critical role in helping victims of gun violence, and the potential closure would create a void.
“How do you quantify some of the work that they're doing? You don't hear about the people that they've relocated, the people that they've provided resources to,” Echevarria said. “How many people's lives have they saved just by doing that? We can't quantify that, and I think that's where you'll see the impact.
“The police department is going to continue to do what we do; we have our chaplains that we’ll be able to call. But our chaplains don’t have the resources that PCAV has to provide.”
Rossman said 93% of PCAV's annual budget goes toward programming such as crisis counseling, employment assistance, and relocation services. She said $300,000 in local donations would keep PCAV operational for at least 12 months.
“That would give us enough time to continue to apply for grants; there are a lot of grants out there we qualify for,” she said. “Unfortunately, just with the timing, we would have to be dissolving the organization by the time those grants come out. So, a year of funding from the community support efforts would get us to where we needed to be to sustain the organization.”
Rossman said a planned fundraiser on Aug. 19 has been put on hold.
“We were walking into that fundraiser with about $31,000 of net income, which tells me the community does support it," she said. "We could probably easily raise $100,000 that night, but we want to be good stewards of people's money. I don't want to raise $100,000 knowing that we may be ending three months after.”
Rossman said that in the past 12 months, PCAV has referred 526 clients to various organizations for support services, 193 clients for specialized trauma therapy, and provided more than 2,000 crisis counseling sessions in the aftermath of gun violence.
“My prayer is that eventually Peoria will not need the services of PCAV (but) we aren't even close to being there yet,” she said. “We've had 20 community members shot since July 1. We need you now more than ever. Peoria needs you, but most importantly, the youth in our community need you.”
In urging the community to come up with the needed funding, Bonner said losing a loved one to gun violence “is the most unnatural thing,” but the assistance from PCAV is “a necessity.”
“This affects everybody; everybody should participate in making this not be a problem,” she said. “Yes, sometimes it does require financial help. But sometimes it just requires a little bit of care, and if you care, I just ask that everybody do what they can do to continue to help these people to continue to help people like me and my children.”
