In the wake of two fatal shootings of Santa Rosa teens in the month of June, the City of Santa Rosa’s Violence Prevention Partnership has been working to greatly expand its capacity to respond to crisis. In a first-of-its-kind event, the City of Santa Rosa’s Violence Prevention Partnership held a community wellness pop-up event on July 27 in Bellevue Ranch Park to address these shootings.

“This event was born out of a desire for The Partnership to directly respond to acts of violence in our community,” said Program Manager Danielle Garduño “Incidents like last month’s shootings impact not just victims and their families, but all residents in the area, and that’s why events like this are so important—to connect local residents to needed services offered by our community partners.”

Garduño highlighted efforts to develop street outreach and crisis response teams, as well as hospital-based intervention programming that has been successful in other communities; however, The Partnership has also been focused on addressing the impacts of violence at the neighborhood level.

Attending the Bellevue Park event were representatives from the Santa Rosa Police Department, Santa Rosa City Schools, the County of Sonoma, as well as more than a dozen local non-profit partners offering everything from free diapers and childcare to mental health and counseling services, all while Partnership staff addressed neighborhood concerns centering on violence and handed out free ice cream to community members.

A second event is planned in the coming weeks for the Corby Avenue neighborhood that witnessed June’s other fatal shooting.

For more information on the Violence Prevention Partnership’s work, visit www.srcity.org/2198/Santa-Rosa-Partnership