The California Wellness Foundation (TCWF) is an independent, private foundation, whose mission is to improve the health of Californians by making grants for health promotion, wellness education and disease prevention. Since its first year of operation TCWF has awarded 2,371 grants totaling more than $333.6 million. It is one of the state’s largest private foundations, making an average of $40 million in grants each year in pursuit of its mission.

TCWF was created in 1992 as a result of Health Net’s conversion from nonprofit to for-profit status. Under the terms of the 1992 California Department of Corporations’ conversion order approving Health Net’s change to for-profit status, the Foundation received the equivalent of the Department’s valuation of Health Net at that time, which was $300 million, plus 80 percent of the equity of the holding company formed as Health Net’s parent. Later, other mergers involving Health Net’s parent and QualMed increased TCWF’s assets dramatically. The Foundation currently has assets of approximately $1 billion. The Foundation operates independently of Health Net.

The California Wellness Foundation
6320 Canoga Avenue,
Suite 1700
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
(818) 593-6600
tcwf@tcwf.org

Grantees Use Policy Advocacy To Address Root Causes of Violence

A strong network of advocates throughout California is working to inform policymakers and opinion leaders about the need to make the prevention of violence against youth a top priority. 

Leading the way are 11 organizations from a variety of disciplines—juvenile justice, religion, media, education, health and the legal field—working together toward the common goal of reducing violence against youth through policy advocacy. Since The California Wellness Foundation (TCWF) started its 10-year, $60 million Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI) in 1993, it has made a significant number of grants to educate policymakers about the importance of violence prevention policies. 

"We’ve made incredible progress with new policies that reduce access to firearms and increase state funding for programs that prevent violence against youth," said Gary Yates, TCWF president and CEO. "These are accomplishments we can be proud of because lives have been saved, but we need to keep up our efforts to educate policymakers and opinion leaders to continue developing public policies that protect our young people."

The good news is that the youth homicide rate has been declining in the past few years, Yates said, but gun violence remains the leading cause of death in California for youth between the ages of 13 and 19. In their ongoing efforts to prevent violence, grantees of the Violence Prevention Initiative use a public health approach, which allows them to address the multiple factors that contribute to violence, such as social and physical environments.

"There is no single cause [of violence], so there can’t be a single solution," said TCWF Program Officer Michael Balaoing. "Policy change is a key factor in creating the programs necessary to treat violence as the preventable public health problem it is."

Within the VPI, 11 policy grantees work together collaboratively to share information, expertise and resources with each other, multiplying the impact of their efforts.

Pacific Center for Violence Prevention

The Pacific Center for Violence Prevention (PCVP), the VPI’s policy center, generates violence prevention-related policy briefs and fact sheets, maintains an extensive library of research about violence prevention and assists VPI grantees in their advocacy efforts. 

PCVP’s policy director, Andres Soto, said great strides have been made and points to a number of ordinances that have been enacted in the past two years that limit the sale of "Saturday night specials" and assault weapons, require safety devices on weapons made and sold in the state, establish licensing and monitoring of production procedures of gun manufacturers, and toughen restrictions on gun shows. At the end of the California’s 1999 legislative session, funding for violence prevention programs had risen for the second year in a row, and the state of California is currently providing more funding to after-school programs than any other state in the nation.

"We’ve accomplished a lot in the area of reducing access to firearms by establishing grassroots support," Soto said. "It’s been more difficult to change the thinking from incarceration to violence prevention, but we’re trying to develop a format to make our case heard."

Martin & Glantz LLC

Making the case for investment in violence prevention on a statewide level has been the goal of a public education campaign created by Martin & Glantz with TCWF funding. The campaign has focused on two key messages: reducing the availability of and access to handguns and increasing resources for violence prevention programs, such as after-school activities and mentoring. The campaign has included direct mail, advertisements, polling, media advocacy and statewide videoconferences.

"The Campaign to Prevent Handgun Violence Against Kids demonstrated that you can build an active base of support when you research and craft messages that people feel they can own," said Candice Francis, senior associate with Martin & Glantz. "The message that ‘handguns are the number-one killer of youth’ spoke factually about the urgency of the situation and helped create an environment that supported the public, opinion leaders and policymakers taking action to reduce access to handguns."

Francis added that the Resources For Youth campaign, designed to promote investments in violence prevention programs, has built a strong base of support, but more work needs to be done to create a constant demand for prevention resources.

The California Wellness Foundation
6320 Canoga Avenue,
Suite 1700
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
(818) 593-6600
tcwf@tcwf.org

Grantees Use Policy Advocacy To Address Root Causes of Violence

Commonweal Juvenile Justice Program

An example of this challenge, said David Steinhart, director of Commonweal’s Juvenile Justice Program (JJP), is Proposition 21, the Juvenile Crime Initiative that won overwhelming public support in California’s March election. Commonweal’s JJP tracks, analyzes and disseminates legislative and budget information on gun control and violence prevention from a public health perspective.

"The [Proposition 21] vote was almost schizophrenic," Steinhart said. "Surveys consistently show that the public supports sound crime prevention strategies, but that wasn’t reflected at the ballot box."

(Photo by Robert Pacheco shows a man leaning over a display of shoes and framed portrait photographs of purported murder victims, captioned "Shoes that belonged to victims of gun violence are shown here in a Silent March held in Los Angeles on August 12. Activities like these help make the issue of violence vivid and tangible for policymakers and opinion leaders.")

Noting that the proposed $80 billion state general budget includes $5 billion for corrections and only $250 million for violence prevention, Steinhart said advocates need to resume the momentum generated among lawmakers for violence prevention before passage of Proposition 21. The $250 million targeted for violence prevention is a significant increase over the $100 million designated in 1995, an increase Steinhart credited to the VPI and its participants.

Commonweal’s JJP "keeps politicians in touch with public sentiment that wants sound crime prevention strategies," Steinhart said. The organization also communicates state governmental actions and proposals on violence prevention to opinion leaders around the state.

California Council of Churches

One approach being taken to raise awareness among the public is personalization of the issue.

"When you talk about youth violence in the abstract, you get a much different response than when you talk about specific kids and families," said Scott Anderson, executive director of the California Council of Churches, which offers education and training in youth violence prevention programs to its 3,800 congregations. "People feel powerless when they’re confronted by faceless crime, and all they know is to join support for a punitive approach."

The council is one of several TCWF grantees that bring people together to discuss alternatives, look at "best practices" and get involved on a personal level. One tool the organization uses is an interfaith, intergenerational study guide, "Creating a Caring Community," designed to help participants develop or join after-school programs. (The guide is available on the council’s website. See website list.) Twenty-five training workshops are in progress around the state this fall.

"Research consistently confirms that most youth-related crimes occur during late-afternoon, after-school hours," Anderson said. "We’re providing educational materials and a best-practices publication to policymakers, opinion leaders and the general public in an effort to encourage legislators to be more flexible in funding after-school programs in all areas, including those that are faith- and community-based."

Based in Sacramento, the California Council of Churches facilitates access to state legislative resources for other TCWF grantees, linking constituencies to move the violence prevention agenda, Anderson said.

Berkeley Media Studies Group

Acknowledging that news media play a large role in shaping public opinion and policy, Berkeley Media Studies Group (BMSG) works with journalists to help them put reports of crime into context and approach coverage from a public health perspective, said Lori Dorfman, director of BMSG.

Dorfman and her colleagues developed a video that juxtaposes actual television news stories about violence with the same stories reshot to include a public health perspective. BMSG uses the video in workshops to help television journalists in Northern and Southern California add more information and perspective to their reports on violence. 

"Reporters ask questions—that’s their job," Dorfman said. "But when it comes to violence, are they asking the right questions? Imagine how we might understand violence differently if reporters asked: ‘How often does this happen in this community? Did the victim and perpetrator know one another? How was the weapon obtained? Was alcohol involved?’ " 

In addition to the workshops, BMSG has also produced a handbook for journalists and helps connect reporters to good data sources.

California Child, Youth and Family Coalition

"Contrary to media reports, youth are concerned and engaged in large numbers when it comes to violence prevention," said Kate Fogle, executive director of California Child, Youth and Family Coalition (CCYFC). The agency, based in Sacramento, gives a voice to youth by providing opportunities for them to explore and act on issues with plenty of support from adults.

"We can’t do youth violence prevention without youth," Fogle said. "Adults can’t really know the experiences of a young person in California in 2000. Young people can give us that perspective. Given support and opportunities in a safe setting, they can make important contributions to policy development."

A one-day training in August, planned and implemented by youth, drew more than 100 young people and adults who developed action plans in violence prevention, as well as in other  issues affecting the health of adolescents. Teen-produced publications provide further opportunities for youth perspectives to be interjected into policy considerations.

"We’re finding more success in communicating and broadening policymakers’ understanding of the needs of youth," Fogle said. "We need to keep working to show how all the pieces fit together to develop a more global approach to policy that creates a healthy environment for youth to prevent violence."

Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice

The Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice (CJCJ) in San Francisco is focusing on "reform of the entire criminal justice system in an effort to reduce institutionalization, so we can reinvest resources in things that will better benefit society," said Dan Macallair, the center’s vice president.

In that effort, CJCJ develops and disseminates data
to help leaders and policymakers at state and local levels make informed decisions on violence prevention issues. For example, studies on racial demographics of youth in California’s juvenile justice system and a state-by-state analysis of juvenile incarceration trends and crime rates received national attention upon release this year.

"Working with other VPI partners broadens our reach and enables more people to have access to information that can influence violence prevention policy," Macallair said. 

CJCJ relies on new technology as a valuable communication tool and has compiled a wealth of information, statistics and resources on its website.

Legal Community Against Violence

Barrie Becker, executive director of Legal Community Against Violence (LCAV) in San Francisco, said providing policymakers with information and finding commonalities among opposing views is a key to success in preventing gun violence. LCAV assists cities and counties by providing research and examples of legally correct firearms ordinances and giving free legal assistance when challenges arise.

"When we give city and county policymakers the right tools and clearly lay out their options, they’re ready to run," she said. "We’ve done the legal research to help them get past the constant threat of litigation and the pro- and anti-gun arguments to focus on safety issues that affect everyone.

"There can be agreements that require responsible manufacture, transfer and use of firearms, and that’s where the discussion needs to start," she added. "It’s about saving lives."

In the past two years, more than 30 local firearms ordinances have been adopted, bringing the total to more than 100 statewide, she said. "State law usually follows local law, so it’s important to keep providing education and resources at the community level," Becker said.

The California Wellness Foundation
6320 Canoga Avenue,
Suite 1700
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
(818) 593-6600
tcwf@tcwf.org

Grantees Use Policy Advocacy To Address Root Causes of Violence

Orange County Citizens for the Prevention of Gun Violence

Community-based advocacy is just what Orange County Citizens for the Prevention of Gun Violence (OCCPGV) is doing.

With TCWF funds, the organization mounted posters in 20 bus passenger shelters throughout Orange County in a campaign that ran in the spring and this fall. The outreach complements increasing activity by the organization’s speakers’ bureau, which makes presentations to community groups, churches and schools and at public events.

"We keep moving further out to the general public from the safety of communicating with people who think the way we do," said Charlie Blek, who with his wife, Mary Leigh, founded OCCPGV in 1995, following the murder of their 21-year-old son during a robbery attempt in New York City. Mary Leigh Blek also heads the national Million Mom March organization.

"We know there is broad general support for gun safety measures in Orange County, but it’s not reflected among our county legislators," Charlie Blek said. "We let policymakers know what the public really thinks in order to overcome that disconnect."

One way OCCAGV keeps the lines of communication open is by producing a "legislative scorecard" of votes on firearms issues and correlating it with action alerts, surveys and polling data.

Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles

(Photo of female speaker at podium with a large poster on its front side. The poster shows Uncle Sam and has harge letters stating, "AMERICA'S SHAME - GUN VIOLENCE". The photo caption reads, "At a recent press conferernce, Billie Weiss, executive director of the Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles, describes the crushing impact violence has on public health.")

The Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles (VPCLA), which encompasses more than 720 affiliated organizations and individuals, also uses data to influence opinions and policies, explained Billie Weiss, director of the coalition’s  Injury and Violence Prevention Project. By producing maps that spot locations of licensed gun dealers and sites of gun-related deaths, VPCLA shows a high correlation between the two, along with many other factors.

"By supplying information to local policymakers, we can encourage them to take steps to more closely monitor gun sales through such actions as requiring county business licenses and other safety measures," Weiss said.

Another shocking statistic highlighted by VPCLA is the $80 million a year that Los Angeles County spends on medical costs resulting from gun violence, which doesn’t take into account any other costs, such as law enforcement.

Weiss said that reports of declining violence may have caused some funders and policymakers to relax their efforts, noting that juvenile homicides in Los Angeles County are up about 28 percent so far this year.

"It’s a public health emergency that requires community mobilization," she said. VPCLA is working with the City Council and County Board of Supervisors on immediate interventions, as well as putting into place long-term neighborhood strategies.

"People are beginning to look at violence prevention in a different light," Weiss said. "It’s an ongoing struggle to convince the unconvinced that prevention works and gets much more lasting results. It’s cheaper and healthier to nurture families with hope."

Women Against Gun Violence

Roberta Schiller, executive director of Women Against Gun Violence (WAGV), agrees that "this is a seminal moment in violence prevention. The Million Mom March was stunning in its outpouring of support for responsible gun laws. It takes time to change a culture, but we’re starting to change attitudes."

WAGV, a Los Angeles coalition of 115 organizations addressing firearms issues as a public health concern, targets women, holding "Pro-Active Grief" meetings for survivors of gun violence, and provides education for policymakers, opinion leaders and the general public.

"When mothers get involved, we have a whole new dimension, based on nurturing and safety, and a very strong voice," Schiller said.

WAGV provides victims of gun violence, who often are mothers, with tools and opportunities to turn their tragedies into positive actions. Berkeley Media Studies Group has provided media training for WAGV speakers to help them frame their messages and stay on track in confrontational situations.

WGAV organized the Los Angeles Million Mom March to the West Los Angeles Federal Building in March, an event that raised the level of interest in the issue and attracted new volunteers.

"At different times in our history, certain issues have come to the forefront in our nation," Schiller said. "This is the time for guns and gun violence. It’s an opportunity we must not miss. It’s a convergence of laws and concerns; safe havens are threatened, people are looking for ways to change the course. We need to put effort and dollars toward it. That time is now."

Further information about TCWF’s 11 violence prevention policy advocacy grantees and their work can be found at the following Internet sites:

Berkeley Media Studies Group
http://www.phi.org/index-main.htm

California Child, Youth and Family Coalition
http://www.CCYFC.org/

California Council of Churches
http://www.CalChurches.org/

Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice
http://www.CJCJ.org/

Commonweal Juvenile Justice Program
http://www.Commonweal.org/

Legal Community Against Violence
http://www.LCAV.org/

Martin & Glantz’ Resources For Youth Campaign
http://www.PreventViolence.org/

Orange County Citizens for the Prevention of Gun Violence (Million Mom March) - founded by attorney Charles Blek and his wife Mary Leigh Blek in 1995
http://www.MillionMomMarch.com/
http://www.StopGunViolence.org/
http://www.StopGunViolence.org/index.htm
http://www.TheBellCampaign.com/

Pacific Center for Violence Prevention
http://www.PCVP.org/
http://www.PCVP.org/pcvp/firearms/guncntn2.shtml

Violence Prevention Coalition of Greater Los Angeles
http://www.VPCLA.org/

Women Against Gun Violence -
"A Coalition United to End Tolerance of Gun Violence"
"Women Against Gun Violence (WAGV) was launched in January of 1994 to address one of the leading issues of our time:Gun Violence. Like all epidemics, gun violence has no boundaries - not age, not gender, not income, not race or ethnicity, not geography."
http://www.WAGV.org/
Women Against Gun Violence - Resources
http://www.JoinTogether.org/plugin.jtml?siteID=WAGV&P=1

Women Against Gun Violence
P.O. Box 1501
Culver City, CA 90232-1501
Phone: 310.204.2348
Fax:     310.204.6643
Email: info@wagv.org

Information on TCWF’s Violence Prevention Initiative
http://www.TCWF.org/

The California Wellness Foundation
6320 Canoga Avenue,
Suite 1700
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
(818) 593-6600
tcwf@tcwf.org

Strongly influenced by research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and California’s Injury Control Program, the Foundation established the Violence Prevention Initiative Policy Program because it recognized that policy change and focused social action are key factors in promoting public health goals.

We believed that establishing clear policy goals would help grantees form a shared understanding of what the Initiative would try to achieve and provide a basis for measuring the results. 

We identified three policy goals: reducing youth access to firearms in order to prevent in juries and deaths, increasing support for youth violence prevention programs, and reducing youth access to alcohol and other drugs.

We provided grants to 14 organizations to implement the goals of the VPI Policy Program. With many opportunities to work synergistically, these organizations contributed valuable policy, public education and information to help VPI grantees effectively inform policy-makers, the media and the public about violence prevention as a health issue and some of the solutions worth exploring.

CREATING A POLICY CENTER FOCUSED ON VIOLENCE PREVENTION 

To ensure that all of the VPI’s components were integrated into the Policy Program, we awarded a grant in 1993 to the Trauma Foundation of San Francisco General Hospital to establish the Pacific Center for Violence Prevention. Leading policy organizations were retained by the Pacific Center to provide a wide array of media and advocacy training and help involve grantees in all of the Initiative’s components.

The Center generated extensive violence prevention-related information, research and resources to grantees, such as policy papers and fact sheets, legal advice and assistance on crime and violence prevention policy. The Center also coordinated the Academic Fellows program and organization of the annual Initiative conference.

Among some of its success stories is the Center’s policy work on Saturday night specials, small cheaply made handguns commonly used in crimes and violent acts throughout California.

Andrew McGuire, executive director of the Pacific Center for Violence Prevention, recalled doing some “gumshoe” epidemiology with public health data from the CDC and crime data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He found that more youths died by handguns than car crashes or disease.

“I knew that this was a way that the people of California could understand the issue,” McGuire said. “To this day, it still pops up in [newspaper] editorials.”

This key fact helped the Center and other VPI grantees to address the first policy goal of reducing access to firearms by identifying specific objectives that could help policymakers, communities, health experts and the public explore solutions to reduce the high number of firearm-related deaths. The information was also interwoven as a key news

EARLY RESULTS

The results thus far have been impressive. At least 60 cities and six counties in California enacted more than 180 firearm regulations. Of those, 39 communities banned the sale of Saturday night special handguns. Others passed ordinances such as requiring trigger-lock devices and prohibiting the sales of high-capacity ammunition rounds. None of these regulations existed before the Initiative was founded. The work of the Initiative grantees helped create a climate for this change. “The gun ordinances would not have happened without the [grantee work] of the Violence Prevention Initiative,” McGuire said.

The efforts have focused on other key policies, including an Initiative objective to address the need to shift the distribution of public resources from a focus on incarceration only toward one that includes prevention programs fostering the health, education and employment of youth.

The Pacific Center, along with other VPI grantees, has helped change policy regarding the critical after-school hours and its effect on youth. Research indicates that violence against youth increases between the hours of 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. There is some evidence that after-school programs not only help youngsters stay safe, but can also increase academic performance. Most recently, the state provided an ongoing allocation of $50 million annually to support after-school programs. 

The Center has also taken advantage of technology to facilitate the statewide networking of grantees and other violence prevention experts by creating and managing an e-mail network and website. After five years of training and networking, community leaders, researchers and health professionals have formed a strong constituency for educating the news media, public officials and other key leaders in California about the public health approach to preventing violence.

PUBLIC EDUCATION TO INFORM AND MOBILIZE ACTION 

Shaping the public discussion and perception of a complex issue like violence prevention requires the use of many communications strategies, including mass media. We believed it was important to fund a public education campaign in support of the Initiative’s policy goals. In 1993 Martin & Glantz received a grant to develop and implement a multimedia campaign.

The campaign supported the policy goals and advanced two key messages: reduce the availability of and access to handguns by youth, and create a greater awareness and consideration of policies that will increase resources for programs to prevent youth violence. 

Throughout the Initiative, Martin & Glantz has developed many phases of the public education campaign, including “Youth Want You to Know,” an innovative effort to facilitate the involvement of young people in policy discussions, and “Prevent Handgun Violence Against Kids.”

The most recent phase of the campaign supports the second goal of the VPI Policy Program: increasing support for youth violence prevention programs. Titled “Resources for Youth: An Honest Dialogue About Strategies to Prevent Youth Violence,” it has included paid advertising, polling in local communities and efforts to draw news media attention to the need to increase resources for youth locally and state wide, such as after-school programs, job development and training and violence prevention programs. 

“One surprise for us was how fast the campaign and its issues gained traction,” said Gina Glantz, principal of Martin & Glantz. But there were lessons learned throughout the campaign, among them the need for paid advertising rather than relying upon free television and radio public service announcements to disseminate key campaign messages. “We had to buy spots to reach the people we were after,” Glantz said.

Martin & Glantz usually divides audiences for a campaign message into two segments: the general public, and opinion leaders and policymakers. To reach the public, the firm used paid advertising in key markets and what Glantz calls “earned” media to convince journalists to cover violence-related stories as a health issue.

Opinion leaders were reached through direct mailings of educational material they could use in their policy efforts, including kits loaded with data, examples of effective violence prevention tactics and re cent policy developments. Since the start of the Initiative, Martin & Glantz has amassed a data base of 12,000 opinion leaders from 20 fields, among them business, education, health, law enforcement and criminal justice.

The language used by state policymakers and other opinion leaders to describe violence and violence prevention has changed dramatically over the last five years. It is now common to hear elected officials, community leaders and health experts regularly quoted in the news media referring to violence as a “health epidemic.” Many often cite information taken verbatim from the Initiative’s public education campaign, including one often-quoted statistic that demonstrates there are “more gun dealers than McDonald’s restaurants” in many California communities.

As part of the campaign, Martin & Glantz also organized two statewide video conferences that connected via satellite hundreds of Initiative grantees, elected officials, health experts, community leaders and law enforcement professionals in communities throughout the state. The video conferences inspired policymakers and frontline advocates to come together to discuss policy changes they can make in their communities to prevent violence.
 
 

POLICY EFFORTS FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES

In addition to the main policy grantees, we have funded other important policy work. Among them is a couple who experienced personal tragedy and channeled their pain into action. Charles and Mary Leigh Blek founded the Orange County Citizens for the Prevention of Gun Violence in 1995 in memory of their son, Matthew, who was shot and killed in 1994 while in New York City during a break from his senior year in college. The instrument of death used in his murder was a Saturday night special handgun, most of which are made in the place Matthew called home: Southern California. 

The Bleks—he an attorney, she a registered nurse—founded the countywide grassroots organization with the belief that gun violence “is a bipartisan, public health and safety issue that crosses all political lines and social classes.” Through the policy work of the organization, they inform the public, the media and policymakers that gun injuries and deaths are preventable. They also want us to remember that victims of violence are not just statistics—they are beloved friends and family.

“We do this in memory of the loved ones lost to us, our communities, our nation,” said Mary Leigh Blek. “We do this because we don’t want you to suffer this terrible loss. We do this because we want to protect our other children. And we do it for ourselves because it helps us to heal.” 

The Foundation also funded Mediascope, an organization that works with the television and film communities to search for solutions to the way complex social issues are portrayed in entertainment. “A major concern is the way violence is depicted in entertainment,” said Marcy Kelly, president and founder of Mediascope, a grantee that organized forums, seminars and workshops. These activities involved entertainment industry representatives in the development, promotion and adoption of policies to improve the depiction of violence in the media.

As a result of these and other policy efforts, the dialogue of violence prevention in California has shifted from an incarceration-only perspective to one that includes a public health approach for preventing violence against youth.

Initiative grantees are improving the health of their communities through policy action, armed with new skills and information drawn from research-driven policy, media advocacy and cohesive public education messages.
 
 
 

The California Wellness Foundation
6320 Canoga Avenue,
Suite 1700
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
(818) 593-6600
tcwf@tcwf.org

Orange County Citizens for the Prevention of Gun Violence (Million Mom March)

Orange County Citizens for the Prevention of Gun Violence is a county-wide grassroots organization dedicated to the belief that all gun injuries and deaths are preventable. We approach this epidemic of gun violence from a public health and safety perspective. We provide education and advocate for prevention of gun violence at the local, state and national levels. We work in coalition with many other organizations in our county as well as with regional, state and national groups in order to impact a broad range of issues associated with gun violence and the quality of life.

Orange County Citizens for the Prevention of Gun Violence (Million Mom March)

Orange County Citizens for the Prevention of Gun Violence was founded in 1995 by Charles and Mary Leigh Blek in memory of their son, Matthew. Our organization is composed of people from all segments of society who share their goal of reducing the kind of gun violence that continues to result in tragedies like the death of Matthew. These victims are not just statistics - they are our friends and loved ones. We believe that gun violence is a bipartisan, public health and safety issue that crosses all political lines and social classes.

Education is the biggest priority of Orange County Citizens for the Prevention of Gun Violence. We provide literature and fact sheets tothe public, media and to our local, state and policy makers. A resource library is continuously updated and maintained to keep current research available to all those interested in the prevention of violence, especially gun violence.

Current information is provided on bills and laws that will have an impact on gun violence issues at the local, state and national levels, with more detailed information for California and California community ordinances.

We communicate with our members in a variety of ways. Currently we have a bi-monthly newsletter, The
Smoking Gun, and printed Action Alerts. We notify members via fax and E-mail and hope to further
developments into fax and telephone "trees". We have quarterly GENERAL MEETINGS with interesting
programs and dynamic informative speakers. Of course, we communicate with our membership and community
via press conferences and other public events.

What are some of the ways members work toward the prevention of gun violence?
 

• Speaking/Speakers Bureau
• Volunteer at Exhibits and Displays of Our Materials
• Letter-Writing
• Community Liaison to Other Community Groups and Organizations
• Attending and Supporting Rallies and Special Events

Note that while attorney Charlie Blek and his wife, Mary Leigh Blek of Mission Viejo in Orange County, California, claim to be "long-time Republicans", they have actively campaigned against Republican candidates for public office and supported Democratic candidates. Although they may be registered to vote as Republicans, which only requires that they be at least 18 years old and U.S. citizens, they are actively working to promote the liberal soft-on-crime Democratic Pary agenda and candidates for public office.

Also, when one loses a family member to murder, a violent crime, that does not give one the moral authority or credibility  to promote proven dangerous counter-productive laws and policies, such as gun control laws that increase violent crime and the number of violent crime victims, and that are deeply rooted in racism and discrimination.
 

http://www.PCVP.org/pcvp/advocates/blek3.shtml Mary Leigh Blek, BS, RN, PHN Cofounder, Orange County Citizens for the Prevention of Gun Violence "Gun deaths are preventable," says Mary Leigh Blek, "but it takes a community effort." Mary Leigh and her husband, Charles, have devoted themselves to that effort ever since their son, Matthew, a college student, was the victim of an attempted robbery and was shot to death with a "Saturday Night Special" in New York City on June 29, 1994. Since Matt's death, the Bleks, long-time Republicans and residents of Mission Viejo, have dedicated themselves to spreading awareness about gun violence. In April 1995, the Bleks founded Orange County Citizens for the Prevention of Gun Violence, and Mary Leigh now works full-time speaking to city councils and community groups, distributing factsheets, organizing presentations and exhibits and alerting people to pending handgun legislation. The Bleks were also successful in persuading the Los Angeles Episcopal Diocese, representing 85,000 Episcopalians and 148 churches in six counties, to overwhelmingly adopt resolutions calling for stricter handgun controls. "If change is happening here in Orange County," Mary Leigh declares, "it can happen anywhere." Pacific Center for Violence Prevention Permission is granted to distribute this document in unaltered format. Photo by Wyn Hilty, Courtesy of OC Weekly, Costa Mesa, CA.  7/5/96

Orange County Citizens for the Prevention of Gun Violence (Million Mom March) - founded by attorney Charles Blek and his wife Mary Leigh Blek in 1995
http://www.MillionMomMarch.com/
http://www.StopGunViolence.org/
http://www.StopGunViolence.org/index.htm
http://www.TheBellCampaign.com/

Email
mailto:stopgunvio@aol.com

Domain Name:
StopGunViolence.org

Domain Name Registrant:
Timothy Blek (STOPGUNVIOLENCE-DOM)
19881 Calle Granada
Walnut, CA 91789
U.S.

Administrative Contact, Billing Contact:
Blek, Timothy  (TB6881)  t_blek@YAHOO.COM
Stop Gun Violence
25255 Cabot Road #102
Laguna Hills, CA 92653
909-620-0060

Technical Contact:
Operations, Network R  (JB8314)  noc@HISPEED.COM
HiSpeed Technologies
330 Rancheros Drive #108
San Marcos, CA 92069
760-761-0495 (FAX) 760-744-3778
 

Women Against Gun Violence, a coalition of individual members and over 100 organizations throughout the state of California, and particularly in the county of Los Angeles, is dedicated to ending tolerance of gun violence by educating communities about the human, financial, and public health costs of this epidemic and the dangers of firearms proliferation.

Through educational programs, coalition building, media advocacy, and resource support to policymakers, Women Against Gun Violence informs the decision-making process, provides current and comprehensive localized data on the gun violence toll, fosters responsive public policy, and raises public awareness of gun violence as a public health crisis.

Founded in 1994, Women Against Gun Violence is guided by these principles:
 

• We have the right to be free from firearm violence in our homes, schools, neighborhoods, places of worship, and workplaces.
• Guns are more likely to kill us than protect us.
• Gun violence is a public health, safety, social, and economic issue costing thousands of lives and billions of dollars each year.
• We all suffer from the epidemic of gun violence and must mobilize to stop it now.
• Guns are one of the leading causes of violent injury and death in California. To prevent gun violence, the availability of handguns, assault weapons, and ammunition must be curbed.
• Consumer product safety laws must apply equally to firearms.

A Coalition United to End Tolerance of Gun Violence

Women Against Gun Violence (WAGV) was launched in January of 1994 to address one of the leading issues of our time:Gun Violence. Like all epidemics, gun violence has no boundaries - not age, not gender, not income, not race or ethnicity, not geography.

We believe the California citizens, especially women, can no longer stand by idly in the face of statistics and facts such as these: 

• More children die in California from handguns than from disease, drugs or car crashes.
• Guns are involved in two-thirds of the domestic deaths in California. 
• We all suffer from the epidemic of gun violence and must mobilize to stop it now.
• You are three times more likely to be attacked at home by a person you know with a gun than by an armed stranger.

Women Against Gun Violence -
"A Coalition United to End Tolerance of Gun Violence"
"Women Against Gun Violence (WAGV) was launched in January of 1994 to address one of the leading issues of our time:Gun Violence. Like all epidemics, gun violence has no boundaries - not age, not gender, not income, not race or ethnicity, not geography."
http://www.WAGV.org/
Women Against Gun Violence - Resources
http://www.JoinTogether.org/plugin.jtml?siteID=WAGV&P=1

Women Against Gun Violence
P.O. Box 1501
Culver City, CA 90232-1501
Phone: 310.204.2348
Fax:     310.204.6643
Email: info@wagv.org

Domain Name:
WAGV.org

Domain Name Registrant:
Women Against Gun Violence (WAGV-DOM)
8800 Venice Blvd., Suite 302
Los Angeles, CA 90034
US

Administrative Contact:
Benz, Tim  (TB740)  tim@MLINET.COM
Global Exposure, Inc.
8800 Venice Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
(310) 842-7137 (FAX) (310) 842-7138

Technical Contact:
Domain Registration  (DR94-ORG)  registrations@IMCONLINE.NET
Interactive Multimedia Corp.
PO Box 422392
Atlanta, GA 30342
U.S.
404-252-2972

Billing Contact:
Susan Shaw  (SS140-ORG)  hn6628@HANDSNET.ORG
Women Against Gun Violence
8800 Venice Blvd., Suite 302
Los Angeles, CA 90034
U.S.
(310) 204-2348
Fax- (310) 204-6643
 

ABOUT THIS PRIORITY AREA

The goal of this priority area is to support and strengthen organizations that work to prevent violence against youth. An emphasis will be placed on grants to organizations that provide mentoring programs for youth, community-based conflict resolution programs, domestic violence prevention, peer mediation, after-school programs and school-based violence prevention programs. Grants will be made to organizations that provide leadership development activities for violence prevention workers. In addition, the Foundation will also fund organizations that inform policymakers and advocate for public policies that increase resources for programs that prevent violence against youth and that reduce injury and death by firearms.
. . .

ABOUT ITS INITIATIVE

The overall goal of the Violence Prevention Initiative is to improve the health of Californians by reducing violence against youth through a range of statewide prevention efforts. Since youth are disproportionately represented as victims of violence, this initiative focuses on young people up to the age of 24. 

To accomplish this goal, we must build the capacity of individuals, communities and institutions to implement and sustain violence prevention efforts.

VPI PUBLIC EDUCATOIN CAMPAIGN

A media campaign has been developed by VPI's public education grantee, i.e. communications, to create messages about policies that prevent violence against youth. The public education campaign informs policymakers, opinion leaders and communities about the specific kinds of local and state policies necessary to generate public resources for programs that reduce violence against youth. The campaign also disseminates information about the effects of violence on health and effective preventive measures. To learn more about the campaign, contact  i.e. communications at 415.616.3930.

The California Wellness Foundation
6320 Canoga Avenue,
Suite 1700
Woodland Hills, CA 91367
(818) 593-6600
tcwf@tcwf.org

Note to reporters & editors: "The" in The California Wellness Foundation name is part of the Foundation’s legal name. Please do not drop or put the "T" in lowercase.

TRAUMA FOUNDATION
at San Francisco General Hospital since 1975

Moving through Grief to Survivor Advocacy

What is Survivor Advocacy?
Grief resulting from a personal, traumatic loss can come in an instant, without warning, into anyone's life. A small number of people who survive the traumatic loss of a loved one channel the force of their grief and shock into preventive action--they become "survivor advocates," working to save others from having to experience a similar loss and trauma. Survivor advocates have been central to some of the major advances in the prevention of injury.

In 1975, Pete Shields became a spokesperson for the newly formed Handgun Control, Inc. (now the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence -  http://www.bradycampaign.org) after his 23 year old son was fatally shot in San Francisco. Candy Lightner founded Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) (http://www.madd.org) in 1980 after one of her 13 year old twin daughters was killed by a drunk driver. Marilyn Spivak founded the National Head Injury Foundation (now the Brain Injury Association - http://www.biausa.org) in 1980, five years after her 15 year old daughter sustained a disabling brain injury. Janette Fennel founded TRUNC and Kids 'N Cars (http://www.kidsncars.org) after she and her husband had been locked in the trunk of their car by a masked man in 1995. In the past several years, parents of children killed by guns have mobilzed a survivor-led, grassroots public support for rational gun policy which began as The Bell Campaign and evolved into the Million Mom March (http://www.millionmommarch.org).

The Trauma Foundation has developed a web site (http://www.tf.org/tf/advocates/advocate1.shtml) which provides information, resources, a newsletter called, "Channeling Grief into Policy Change," (http://www.tf.org/tf/images/IPNweb.pdf) and organizing tools--memorials and a survivor advocacy bulletin board--to make it easier for survivor advocates and injury prevention professionals to find and help each other. The authentic voices and experiences of survivors are crucial to sound prevention advocacy work. Survivor advocates' work is personal and passionate. These are the qualities that make their message so attractive to the media, persuasive to some policymakers, and aggravating to their opponents. The power of the partnership between survivor advocates and injury prevention professionals far exceeds the power of either working alone. 

https://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/newsarchives/XcNewsPlus.asp?
cmd=view&articleid=1331

https://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/newsarchives/XcNewsPrint.asp?
cmd=view&articleid=1331

Trauma Foundation
http://www.TF.org
http://www.TF.org/tf/lib&data/contentl.shtml

Trauma Foundation taxpayer-funded politcal lobbying "accomplishments":
http://www.TF.org/tf/accomp2.html

"Gun Victims Memorial" web site established by the Trauma Foundation for anti-self-defense political progoganda purposes, with contact email address "mailto:lolivier@tf.org".
The fact that this is the "Gun Victims" memorial and not the "Murder Victims" memorial further demonstrates the anti-firearm and self-defense agenda of the Trauma Foundation.
http://www.GunVictimsMemorial.org

"The Memorial for Gun Victims provides this information as a free public service."
http://www.GunVictimsMemorial.org/memorialresources.shtml

The California Wellness Foundation
http://www.TCWF.org/annual_1998/policy.html
http://www.TCWF.org/portfolio/2000/fall/pages/cover_story.htm
http://www.TCWF.org/portfolio/2000/fall/pages/cover_story2.htm
http://www.TCWF.org/portfolio/2000/fall/pages/cover_story3.htm
http://www.TCWF.org/
http://www.TCWF.org/site_map/site_map.htm
http://www.TCWF.org/publications/publications.htm
 

http://www.TF.org/tf/accomp2.html
(web page content on August 3, 2001)

"Accomplishments
. . .
Seat Belt Law
The Trauma Foundation organized a statewide coalition of physicians, nurses, public health workers, and community advocates who educated policy makers regarding the efficacy of a mandatory seat belt use law in California in 1986.

Motorcycle Helmet Law
Beginning in 1987, the Trauma Foundation worked with people whose lives had been significantly altered by motorcycle crashes to advocate for a motorcycle helmet law. Since the law went into effect in 1992, it has been credited with saving approximately one hundred lives annually and reducing serious head injuries by forty-nine percent.

Assault Weapons Ban
The Trauma Foundation organized a coalition of health care workers, policy makers, and community activists who advocated for the assault weapons ban in California in 1989.

Alcohol Tax Initiative
In 1990, Andrew McGuire chaired the statewide committee that ran the Alcohol Tax Initiative in California. Although the nickel-a-drink tax failed at the November ballot, the State legislature increased the alcohol tax six months later as a direct result of the November initiative.
. . . "