Violence - Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia Initiative
There are no quick fixes to ending violence in our city. But ultimately, no matter what neighborhood we live in, we’re all in this together. Let’s make a safer Philadelphia our common goal. Together, we can make a difference.
Our Mission
To use proven, research-based public health methods to develop and implement a long-term strategy to help reduce gun violence and end youth homicides in Philadelphia by the year 2016. The multi-tiered Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia Initiative includes influencing attitudes and changing community norms surrounding youth violence. It uses social, cultural and educational programs as a way to prevent violence before it begins.
Creating a Safer Philadelphia
Created to stop rising gun and youth violence, the Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia Initiative is a unique and innovative public health approach that augments the traditional criminal justice response with a public health prevention model.
This public health initiative is disseminating pro-social messages to both youth and adults through a variety of traditional and non-traditional communications channels. All elements of the Blueprint social marketing campaign are culturally-relevant, street-credible and audience-tested.
Over the next decade, the Blueprint Initiative will:
- Heighten public awareness of alternatives to violence;
- Provide youth and their families with access to support and resources, along with options for changing their lives; and
- Empower local community-based organizations to address the root needs of area youth.
Primary Partners
CHOICE - a consumer-centered agency that provides access to quality healthcare and information to a broad cross-section of individuals. It operates the toll-free hotline that provides information and referrals for the Blueprint Campaign.
GPUAC - The Greater Philadelphia Urban Affairs Coalition (GPUAC) is a partnership of business, government and communities that builds wealth and creates opportunities for educational and economic success in the Greater Philadelphia region. GPUAC seeks secure, healthy lives for citizens, by providing business services, operating programs, and producing consumer-oriented policies and products. GPUAC assists Blueprint grantees with goal-setting, benchmarking and monitoring progress.
MEE Productions Inc. - a communications and research company specializing in underserved and hard-to-reach audiences. Founded in 1990, MEE develops social marketing campaigns with a particular focus on public health issues impacting youth and young adults. MEE has designed and implemented the social marketing campaign for the Blueprint Initiative for two years. It includes radio, TV, print and transit advertising, peer-to-peer outreach and active partnerships with grassroots community-based organizations.
To see a list of Blueprint grantees of community stakeholders who have signed on to be partners in the Blueprint for a Safer Philadelphia Campaign, visit http://www.phillyblueprint.com or call the Blueprint Campaign Hotline: 1-888-570-BLUE.
To find out more about anti-violence resources serving the Philadelphia area, click on the PhillyHealthInfo.org Violence page.