Healing and Justice Center A Community Based Approach to Public Safety Cohen, Gilmer, Thompson, Sw

Shimon Cohen
Rachel Gilmer
Tarrah Hield-Swann
Chettarra Thompson
In Miami, 52% of murder victims are Black. In response, our neighborhoods are flooded with police. Meanwhile, we are starved of the resources actually needed to keep people safe - housing, jobs, after-school programming, mental health, and healthcare.
Our communities are caught in a trap - poverty, violence, and incarceration. We are working to break this trap.
Learn about our innovative public safety model based in the Liberty City and Overtown neighborhoods of Miami, FL that brings together a coalition of community members, survivors of violence, medical and mental health professionals, artists, healers, and legal professionals to end gun violence and respond to mental health crises without the collateral damages of incarceration. We work to keep our community safe by:
1. Reducing violence without incarceration
2. Expanding access to mental health services
3. Diverting people from the criminal legal system
We respond to crises and violence in our neighborhoods and connect people to long-term services through our centralized dispatch system, including:
Providing mentorship and case management to those at greatest risk of becoming a victim or a perpetrator of violence
Mediating disputes that may result in violence and preventing retaliation
De-escalating mental health crises and supporting people in accessing long term services
Providing therapy and case management to survivors who are excluded by traditional victim services agencies
The Healing & Justice Center is a partnership of:
Dream Defenders
Circle of Brotherhood
Touching Miami with Love
Dade County Street Response