Community Partner Spotlight: Metropolitan Peace Initiatives (MPI)

Mission

To coordinate, support and sustain a cross-agency infrastructure made up of local community-based and citywide organizations that deliver a comprehensive set of services to heal communities at the highest risk for violence.

Executive Director

Vaughn Bryant is Executive Director of Metropolitan Peace Initiatives (MPI), a division of Metropolitan Family Services which features a team of professionals working in partnership with community-based and citywide organizations to coordinate, support and sustain comprehensive services designed to heal communities that have experienced the highest levels of gun violence. Core specialties include the Metropolitan Peace Academy, behavioral health, workforce readiness, legal aid and street outreach supervision.

Services Offered

Metropolitan Peace Academy, behavioral health, street outreach supervision, workforce development, legal aid and youth interventions.

Current Projects

Back to Our Futures 2.0 (new program with Chicago Public Schools), Metropolitan Peace Academy and the Illinois Peace Project.

Organizational Impact to the Community

Additionally, Northwestern University’s Center for Neighborhood Engaged Research and Science (CORNERS) found that Communities Partnering 4 Peace (CP4P) helped prevent at least 383 shootings and homicides between 2017 and 2021. (CP4P consists of 15 organizations working in 28 communities across Chicago.) Peacekeepers hotspots experienced a 41% overall reduction in victimizations in 2023-2024 compared to the previous two-year period.

Funding Sources

Metropolitan Peace Initiatives receives both public and private funding. For certain mental health services, MPI can also bill Medicaid.

This spotlight is part of the Healthy City Collaborative, a program within the UIC Office of Community Engagement And Neighborhood Health Partnerships.

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