Community Safety Teams

We're thrilled to announce an exciting new chapter in community safety! This year, seven dynamic teams, deeply connected and invested in their communities, have been formed to elevate our efforts in supporting youth and families, combating violence, and fostering a safe environment where everyone can thrive. These teams will bring passion and innovation to violence interruption, gang prevention, and gender-specific services, working together to strengthen Denver’s ongoing initiatives against gang, gun, and group violence.

Scope of work

• The Community-Based Gang Violence Intervention Program: Strategy is a two-pronged approach, integrating Gang Violence Interruption efforts and Individualized Service Provision. Implementation of both components allows for both proactive and reactive strategies to reduce gang violence in the community by addressing the service needs of those most likely to be involved in violence and by identifying the causes of and solutions to conflicts between individuals and groups within the community. A primary focus is on responding to gang-involved incidents and confrontations in the community.

• Secondary Prevention Services: Services are provided to high-risk youth and their families. Secondary gang prevention refers to programs and services that are directed toward youth who have already displayed early signs of problem behavior and are at high risk for gang involvement. Selected programs will concentrate their resources on those high-risk and hard-to-reach you who are most likely to join local gangs. 

• Gender-specific Services: Offers trauma-informed services for young women, focusing on mental health, school connectedness, and family relationships. It targets high-risk youth ages 12-24 prone to gang involvement, providing mentoring, individual risk assessments, and specialized case management. The services aim to foster positive female development by addressing basic needs, identity, purpose, confidence, and safety.

Meet Our Partners

"Collaborative Healing Initiative within Communities (CHIC) helps families break intergenerational cycles of poverty and violence. We strengthen families and communities by strengthening women and girls. We fill a critical gap in the landscape of institutions and service providers by offering culturally-relevant, whole-family, female-focused supports that directly intervene in the systems that most frequently fail communities: education, workforce, and criminal justice."

"The Denver Dream Center rescues people, rebuilds lives, and restores dreams. Through free resources and wrap-around services, we address the immediate and long-term needs of more than 50,000 people annually. As a team of resilient people redeemed by God’s love, we believe in the transformative power of hope for individuals, communities, and us all."

"GRASP (Gang Rescue and Support Project) is a peer-run, intervention program that works with youth who are at-risk of gang involvement or are presently active in gangs, helps families of gang victims, and serves as a youth advocate. GRASP works so well because it is primarily run by ex-gang members who broke free of the gang life-style and turned their lives around. The staff understands how difficult it is to make this transition and the challenges facing youth who do it. Established in 1991 after a tragic ‘drive-by’ shooting death of a teen, GRASP has evolved into a highly respected and successful program of Denver Youth Program, a non-profit organization, that for over 52 years has helped kids to better futures through one-on-one mentoring."

"Life-Line Colorado works with people of any background to assist in reentry and youth violence reduction. We provide counseling, mentoring, substance abuse treatments, pro-social activities, life skills, resource connections, career exploration, and job readiness training. Life-Line Colorado is a WAGEES grant provider of re-entry help for people coming out of prison. We specialize in programs that support fatherhood, gang disengagement, substance abuse, and aggression replacement. Life-Line Colorado is a community outreach and support program designed to assist our local at-risk population. We focus on strategic relapse intervention and relapse prevention, withdrawal support, and re-entry programming, helping members of our community live productive, fruitful lives. We work to replace drugs, alcohol and violence with love, security and safety, providing a wide range of services to anyone who needs them."

"SOAR is a community-based non-profit organization that works with multicultural and marginalized adolescents ages 7-19."

"The Struggle of Love (S.O.L) Foundation is a 501(c)(3) Colorado-based organization that provides opportunities for underprivileged youth and/or families to access year-round services and programs. These programs offer alternatives to those that may not qualify for other community-based assistance programs. Since its conception, S.O.L has assisted thousands of families through community outreach events. With diverse offerings such as competitive sports and mentor teams, school supplies, food initiatives, toy drives, community picnics, and mental health awareness, Struggle of Love collaborates with other local nonprofits to reach and educate under-served communities in the Denver metro area. During our annual backpack giveaway, S.O.L gives away more than 300 backpacks full of school supplies for children who need them. S.O.L also hosts an annual hot Thanksgiving dinner for homeless children and families. In addition, S.O.L has led efforts as violence interrupters by Co-chairing the RISE Network in Denver. S.O.L also provide mental health training and most recently opened the doors to the new community FOOD PANTRY in the Montbello community."

"Tha Myx was founded in 2002 by Adrian ‘AGE’ Sandoval as a community outreach program focused on supporting at-risk families in Denver, Colorado. Initially rooted in Gospel Rap through the group "PREACHAS IN THA HOOD," Tha MYX evolved into Denver's first hip-hop church and a hub for gang intervention, music production, and youth development programs. Today, under the leadership of CEO and Pastor Joe Aragon, Tha MYX continues its mission to uplift at-risk youth and families, supported by federal grants and community partnerships, with campuses in Denver and Grand Junction, Colorado."

Community Safety Team Assignments by Area

Serving Denver Communities