Last week, the Chicago Department of Public Health, in collaboration with the Mayor’s Officefor Community Safety and community partners, hosted a launch event to announce Cycle Breakers, a youth safety initiative designed to disrupt cycles of violence.
The initiative aims to empower youth, adults, and community leaders in Chicago’s South and West sides with resources, tools, and an enhanced sense of culture and belonging to break from destructive patterns. Planning and development began in 2023, driven by youth focus groups and community-based organizations in the violence prevention space showing that the Cycle Breakers movement was built not only for, but with the community.
The Community Safety Coordination Center recognized gun violence as a public health crisis and the need for a holistic and community-first approach to address the root cause of the problem. Learn more at chicago.gov/CycleBreakers for Cycle Breakers resources and upcoming events throughout the summer.
About The Community Safety Coordination Center
The CSCC was created to take the lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic and apply them to the City’s most pressing epidemic, gun violence. This means coordinating a full force of government approach that is data-informed, evidence-based, and community-driven. In its early stage of development, the CSCC consisted of representatives from the City’s infrastructure, social services, and public safety departments. Currently, the CSCC is embedded within the Chicago Department of Public Health and works alongside the Office of Violence Prevention, and the Mayor’s Office of Community Safety, to reduce violence through coordination, victim support, and intervention services.
About Cycle Breakers
Established in 2024, in partnership with the Community Safety Coordination Center, Chicago-based Culture Agency TEN35 created the Cycle Breakers movement as an initiative to build a safer Chicago, working with frontline organizations and residents most impacted by violence in the city to lead with a community-first approach. Cycle Breakers was established to promote effective solutions for gun violence, rooted in behavioral change and focused on six tools: conflict resolution, restorative practices, culture wellness, mentoring, mental health, and crisis intervention.
