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Coalition Overview :  The VGPP focus is for the effective intervening and preventing gang

involvement on a regional level by the use of referrals within the partnership, communication with and

between agencies, targeting neighborhoods with focused community action programs, and offering

VGPP is already a demonstrative community coalition of committed agencies, and is seeking to further

link and coordinate the programs for further productivity, as well as leveraging of the combined

program services to help more youth and families. The agencies affiliated with VGPP are seeking funding to help provide the broad

range of services to at risk children and families in the following program areas: day, weekend, and summer camps, gang

prevention/intervention trainings and direct services, empowerment stage shows, drug awareness and prevention, counseling services,

job preparation, enhanced educational opportunities, SAT, SOL, GED, and literacy preparation and after school tutoring, and

The agencies affiliated with VGPP provide these services at various sites throughout the Hampton Roads area and currently serve over

6,500 individuals annually. Our programs services are building on the strength of each agency who is committed to the coalition as

God’s X Gangsters has been the motivating factor leading to this collaborative juncture, as they have pioneered working with regional

team that allow agency to maintain their own identity yet agree to work as a team to reach at-risk youths and their families NSU,

(SSW) has been acting as the intermediary organization and seeks to assist VGPP with five critical areas of capacity building:

leadership development, organizational development, program development, revenue development strategies, and community

The agencies affiliated with the Virginia Gang Prevention Partnership (VGPP) for years have separately provided a broad range of

services to at-risk youths and families in an effort to curb community violence and reduce the chance that these children will become a

part of the problem versus a solution to it. Many of these organizations have received national, state, city, and civic awards for the

Although these separate agencies have strived to make a difference in their own communities, they understand in order to influence

society on a larger scale they must come together and stand as a united front. When God’s X Gangsters approached each of these

agencies they knew through relationships, with the ideal of forming a coalition they became excited at the prospect of reaching more

The framed parameters would allow each agency to maintain their own identity yet agreeing to work as a team to reach at-risk youths

and their families This was a realistic next step, as some of the teams had already been working in cooperation with GXG and others,

in demonstrative programs to meet the needs of family’s at various core sites in the region. Through a trusted mentor, GXG teams

helped develop a family assessment and complete a long-term plan, for each of the participating families, when requested. GXG

would either link these families to those immediate partnerships, within walking distance, or act as a referral to those who they can

These core agencies truly understand that the transient nature of at-risk families and the inability of each agency to provide or offer all

services needed to these disadvantaged individuals cause many to fall through the cracks. The result is many of these children and

young adults do not feel connected to the community as whole. Gangs who want to further their own agenda by terrorizing the

community target these youth and many of these children have and will likely continue to join a gang without positive and effective

Gangs, like at-risk families do not stay within city and locality boundaries which hampers the ability of law enforcement and

community agencies bound by city limits to combat the problem effectively. The VGPP has already taken the first steps necessary for

organizing this coalition of agencies. Through quarterly meetings over the 3 years, the agencies involved have aligned themselves in

program areas that allow for a cohesive team presentation and expands their service ability and sites. This regional level community

The faith based community agencies that are apart of the VGPP contacted Dr. Marvin Feit, Dean of The Ethelyn R. Strong School of

Social Work, Norfolk State University in 2005 requesting assistance in developing a plan to come together as regional providers to at-

risk youths and their families. Over the last 4, the agencies have reached a consensus regarding their commitment to the project, the

mission and goals of the coalition, and have separated themselves into the following program areas: day, weekend, and summer

camps, empowerment stage shows, drug awareness and prevention, counseling services, job preparation, enhanced educational

Although these organizations have proven themselves individually and do work together in the various program areas, grant funding

would assist them in their collaborative effort to become a much more visible regional leader and proponent for positive change the

Since its establishment in 1935, Norfolk State University (NSU) has always maintained a positive relationship with African American

Churches and other faith based organizations in the local area. NSU has a long history of offering assistance and encouragement to

Families in our target communities are well below poverty level, experience the highest standards of learning failure and dropout rate,

and as well live in gang active communities. The major service sites are located in Newport News, Hampton, Norfolk, Portsmouth,

Virginia Beach, and Chesapeake. According to the 2000, US census 13.8% of Newport News residents, 11.3% of Hampton residents,

19.4% of Norfolk residents, 16.2% of Portsmouth residents, 6.5% of Virginia Beach residents, and 7.3% of Chesapeake residents live

below poverty. All Hampton Roads cities suppress the state’s poverty rate of 9.6% except for Virginia Beach and Chesapeake. We also

serve the greater Hampton Roads area in general, by helping teams start programs, by utilizing our own train the trainers team leaders

The ultimate goals of the VGPP are (1) To provide an evidenced based gang education, identification, and prevention programs in all

the regions cities. (2) To form a collaborative partnership that is easily contacted through any of the connections (3) To provide

Objective: To develop a consistant gang prevention model to be utilized by all coalition agencies and to evaluate the model for

· 85% of clients referred for services from among coalition agencies will be enrolled in a program suitable for addressing their

· 80% of individuals referred for services from other than coalition agencies will be enrolled in a program suitable for addressing their

· 85% of clients served will be entered into the coalition database and will not be discharged from services until very effort is made to

· 95% of the youths and families referred to VGPP will be offered the service(s) identified on the intake application or be referred to a

· 80% of parents referred for substance abuse services will be connected to a coalition agency site within their community or referred

Leadership Development NSU will work with coalition agencies to enhance leadership skills among their members by providing or

· NSU will authorize travel and seminar costs to at least 3 national leadership conferences during the year and at least 2 coalition

members will be allowed at each conference, NSU will also offer additional and continuing community leadership seminars over the

· NSU will assist the coalition agencies in coming to a consensus on the various leadership positions necessary to maintain them as an

effective regional provider to at risk families. During quarterly meetings, NSU and the coalition members will elect a committee to

oversee the collaborative relationship between coalition agencies. VGPP members will attempt to attend and participate in all city,

· NSU staff will offer mentoring to coalition members in regards to developing community relationships and needed grassroots efforts

· NSU will schedule a minimum of 2 community development seminars per year over the next 2 years, which will be open to the

· With a grant VGPP would hire a full time grant writer to assist all coalition members in apply for monies to promote and maintain

their agencies. Although a grant writer has not been identified, VGPP will seek out an individual with experience in faith-based grant

· Marketing- Direct mailings to all helping agencies (churches, hospitals, schools, police departments, CSBs, private therapists, DSS,

· Recruiting of volunteers from schools, Community Services Boards, and community agencies that share our client base so that the

In an effort to enhance our relationship with the community, we seek to hire a part time community consultant who is experienced in

NSU would seek to hire two PhD candidates to work with coalition agencies to develop evaluation measures. This will assist in

determining what services offered by the coalition members are most effective in combating gang membership in the population

served. The evaluator will track milestones and review activity with project staff. Assessment will be accomplished through

questionnaires, direct observations, attendance records, and the behaviors and attitudes of participants enrolled in the services

In 2006, Gods X Gangsters provided pre and post tests on various community programs to NSU asking if they were of use in proving

the effectiveness of their intervention. The evaluation materials provided were significant in their focus on working with gang

involved youth, as it shows that this core agency is very effective in linking with these youth and with other community programs who

We noted that 70- 80% of the children in the Dept of Housing summer program reported a change in the youths self-esteem,

It is interesting to see that equal numbers were reported by the parents of improved behaviors, improved attitudes, and children who

Some of the best data, was that 85% of the Community Leaders who attended a one day workshop, responded with a request for more

information, and reported a written willingness to become part of gang awareness in their communities after training by Gods X

Gangsters and associates. NSU (SSW) staff will further help develop consistent and reliable measures to determine the effectiveness

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18 Letters of Intent to Support the Coalition 20