The T.R.I.G.G.E.R. Project and over 50 community-based organizations and stakeholders in the District of Columbia and surrounding areas gathered for the first of its kind End Gun Violence Citywide Conference in June of 2021 to assess the public health crisis and co-create a citywide community peace plan.
Featured clip is from the Voice of Gun Violence segment of the conference. Speaker: Chris “Fresh” Edge, Artist, Survivor, TRIGGER Ambassador. Register here for our Annual Conference Festival!
The True Reasons I Grabbed the Gun Evolved from Risks (T.R.I.G.G.E.R) Project aims to denormalize and destigmatize gun violence in communities of color across
the nation.
We focus on changing the norm and narrative of gun violence in communities of color by authentically providing safe (physically + emotionally) space for youth survivors and through telling the untold stories of everyday gun violence users to all walks of life.
Our intent is to build awareness and compassion for people who feel invisible
without the gun.
Both our nation and our community have accepted gun violence in communities of color as the standard way of life, yet, through understanding the everyday shooter's reality we can greatly reduce the number of homicides in the most affected population
in the world.
We all have a T.R.I.G.G.E.R. finger. Thus, we all should be on the side of ending gun violence efficiently and empathetically for those raised in a village of violence. Our dynamic team of advocates, survivors, shooters, volunteers and youth are all committed to helping bring awareness and transformation to everyday
gun violence.
With purpose and precision, we aim to reduce the number of total intentional interpersonal homicides to ZERO in communities of color by year 2100.
We are all guilty of viewing shooter as the only killer. We pull their trigger with them if we do not begin asking ourselves why is the trigger pulled so often in communities of color. From heartache to heart work, help us properly identify and convey the root causes of urban gun violence here.
We are building evidence for youth violence prevention. Our research strategies are community-driven and youth-led, with support from Michigan - Youth Violence Prevention Center at University of Michigan.
Hundreds of murders effect the creative directors of this project. More deeply, exposure to gun violence is heart-breakingly routine for children within disadvantaged communities of color in major cities like Washington, DC, St. Louis, MO, Milwaukee, WI, and Baltimore, MD. Our team has a history of loving youth and are taking ownership of their fate. Seeing a need for an innovative, subjective approach to ending gun violence, The T.R.I.G.G.E.R. Project brings forth the voice and vantage point of the people closet to the every act of violence. The T.R.I.G.G.E.R. Project, inspired by true stories, will give the audience an inside view of the many lives grappling gun violence daily by characterizing the immeasurable pain and adversity that leads to
using gun violence. Deep pain requires deep healing. Healing can only begin with true acknowledgement of the causes.
Tia Bell became familiar with the struggles of at-risk youth early in life as the oldest child of an adolescent mother in Washington, D.C. Overpowered by crime, defeat, and disadvantage, 7 out of 10 Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) were lived before the age of 10 years old. By the age of 17, gun violence caused dozens of loved ones pain or silence including her mother, who is a survivor, and her late uncle. In Tia's determination to find significance in life's pain she found peace on the court winning Gatorade Player of the Year in 2006 and 2007 while attending HD Woodson Senior High School she earned her an invitation to serve as a scholastic member of the Wolfpack Women's Basketball Club.
In 2011, Tia received her Bachelor’s of Science in Sport Management from NC State University. Following multiple acute knee injuries which ended her basketball career, Tia was afforded the opportunity to become the first in her family to complete high school, college and now pursue a Master’s degree. It was during this difficult shift that she discovered herself and her calling to serve and support the young.
Tia has gained meaningful experience in undergraduate admissions, college access, school counseling, coaching, and gun violence prevention. As the Founder of FOuR, LLC and The T.R.I.G.G.E.R. Project, today she lives to prevent gun violence through the intersection of positive youth development, public health, cultural responsiveness. In this light, youth are positioned to create and design solutions of holistic healing for the youth, from the youth and
PREVENT the spread of the disease of gun violence.
Your generous support and contributions will enable us to meet our goals and improve execution in tackling root causes of gun violence. Stop ONE shooting and save TWO lives.
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Enjoy our recap The FINAL and 4th Annual End Gun Violence Citywide Conference + Festival that helped address the disease of gun violence on Gun Violence Awareness Day. #WeArePrevention