On August 22 our team gathered for a press conference in Pottawattomie Park to thank elected officials and community leaders for their ongoing support of our program and to celebrate the successful work of our program. CVI programs across the city have made big strides in contributing to our historic progress toward lowering crime rates this year.
ONE Northside has provided CVI work in Rogers Park and Uptown for over 10 years. We also serve the neighboring the communities of Edgewater, West Ridge, North Park, Lincoln Square, Albany Park, Irving Park, North Center, Lincoln Park, Lakeview and Near North as the need arises and our team is able.
ONE Northside is a member of the citywide Communities Partnering 4 Peace (CP4P) coalition convened by Metropolitan Peace Initiatives.
Our team offers Street Outreach, Case Management, and Victim Services. Our programmatic work includes: shooting responses to mitigate retaliations, ease tensions and provide immediate victim services; short- and long-term case management; service referrals; public safety events; financial empowerment courses; youth mentorship; individual; risk reduction plans; conflict mediation; and daily community canvassing in hotspot areas.
In 2024, the team conducted 265 conflict mediations that could have led to violence; canvassed for 1,715 hours in neighborhood hotspots to calm tensions and keep neighborhoods safe; organized 15 public events to share resources like food, clothing, and supplies with community members and activate public spaces; and responded to 45 violent incidents within the community to act as mediators and provide services.
Our team members are a crucial and irreplaceable part of the tapestry of public safety because they have “license to operate” (LTO) with all the groups in our neighborhoods. The trust and authenticity they have developed within these communities comes from real experience, and it cannot be duplicated or replaced.
In 2023, ONE Northside convened a press conference in Pottawattomie Park, in the wake of a deadly shooting there, to call on city, county, and state leaders to invest in CVI programs and work with us to reduce violence. In the two years since that press conference, and with the continued support of elected officials, shootings in Rogers Park have fallen 48%, and total violent crime in Rogers Park is down 22% since 2023.
In 2018, the ONE Northside violence prevention team negotiated a “no slide” peace agreement between two groups in Uptown that had been involved for many years in violence and responsible for many shootings. This agreement requires constant maintenance, but remains intact: in 2025, there have been no fatal shootings in Uptown. And in fact, Uptown has seen a starker downturn in violence than the rest of the city; while shootings citywide are down 38% compared to the same time last year, Uptown is down twice the rate of the city, down 70%.
A five-year evaluation of the CP4P model by the Center for Neighborhood Engaged Research & Science (CORNERS) found that it significantly lowers participants’ gunshot victimization rates and makes communities safer:
Federal funds for violence prevention have been slashed in the past six months, despite growing evidence that this work is keeping violence at its lowest rate in decades.
State, county, and city leaders have worked to fill the gaps, and private investment in violence prevention efforts are also needed to maintain this vital work that keeps Chicago safe.
ONE Northside’s CVI work is supported by:
Thank you to our state and city leaders who joined us for the press conference on August 22: Senator Mike Simmons (IL-7), Senator Sara Feigenholtz (IL-6), Representative Hoan Huynh (IL-13), and Alderperson Maria Hadden (Ward 49). A video of the event can be seen here.
