Jacksonville Councilman Reggie Gaffney calls for $300,000 to fund crime prevention groups

Jacksonville City Councilman Reggie Gaffney is asking for more than a quarter-million dollars to fund faith-based and grassroots organizations that help keep kids safe from violence.

Gaffney held a meeting Wednesday morning, with some of his fellow council members—as well as some local organizations, to discuss his request for $300,000.

Gaffney said the money would come from other departments that don’t need it this year.

Nine other City Council members support the idea and Mayor Lenny Curry has already committed $50,000.

Action News Jax reporter Courtney Cole attended the meeting at City Hall where leaders said they’re working on solutions.

Some local organizations still worry that this money will never actually get to serve its purpose.

"So what happens is, I sit home, I watch the news and I’m saddened,” said Loutricia Gibbs-Tolbert. She’s the founder of DieRections, Inc., a faith-based organization that works to help young people become positive leaders in the community.

Gibbs-Tolbert told Action News Jax she’s frustrated, because she believes the deadly triple shooting near Raines High School could have been prevented if the city had provided money to organizations like hers.

"Today, sitting here with you, still I’ve never received any funding on the city level, the state level, nor the federal level—but I still have been doing the work,” Gibbs-Tolbert told Action News Jax.

She believes the type of early-life direction she provides could have changed the direction of 16-year-old shooting suspect, Robert Howard.

“Had he been to our program, maybe he would have been the young man that learned how to resolve conflict differently,” said Gibbs-Tolbert.

Gibbs-Tolbert says this isn't the first time she's met with city leaders to discuss the idea of funding, but she hopes it will be the last. “That maybe that young man or young woman just was not reached, not because there was no funding. That can not keep being the narrative. I want to see that change.“

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Mayor Lenny Curry says he’s on board with Councilman Gaffney’s plan, but says he believes helping our kids goes beyond just providing money to local organizations.

“As parents and uncles and aunts and just members of the community--we need to wrap our arms around the children that we see that have needs and do everything to uplift them and encourage them and mentor them and help them,” Mayor Curry said.

Pastor Atlas Rankin of the Love Fellowship Christian Center said we have to learn to work together because we can't afford to risk the lives of any more of our children.

Rankin has been running a summer camp for the last four years that helps to keep kids off the streets.

Rankin told Action News Jax funding will help with everything from improving the program to help making sure the kids have the transportation to get there.

“Trying to help the young people, you have to fight the adult problems. And I just don’t think that the kids should have to suffer because the adults did not get done what should have been done,” Rankin said.

While some local organizations are critical of the promises being made for funding, Mayor Curry said this time will be different. "I think maybe that’s been their experience from the past, but there’s not been this effort or this move that I've made and now Councilman Gaffney and others on council are making," he said.

Mayor Curry said this push will only enhance the hard work that's already being done.

“The neighborhoods that are experiencing the most crime, the neighborhoods that have the most oppressed economic conditions — we need to make sure that we get to those organizations that are, again, already working to help so many young people. We want to support them and help them be able to help even more,” Curry told Action News Jax.

Councilman Gaffney said his next step is to present his push for $300,000 to the city’s Finance Committee on Thursday.

After they vote on it, Gaffney will then present it to all of his council members.

If all goes as planned, Gaffney and Mayor Curry said they would like to have the funding ready to go by Oct.1, when the new budget year begins.

Cox Media Group