Our Programs

Good Shepherd Services’ B.R.A.G. (Bronx Rises Against Gun Violence) program works with young people, local community residents, community organizations, and the public to promote safer streets and new community norms where violence is not accepted.

Program staff help reduce gun violence by identifying youth at risk for retaliatory violence, working with victims and their families and friends to help prevent future violence, and providing linkages to resources and follow-up services to patient participants. Additionally, B.R.A.G. mobilizes community residents and organizations through community events (e.g., response to shootings and community mobilizations) to raise awareness about violence and its larger impact, and to promote community norms that embrace non-violence.

B.R.A.G. staff consists of a program director, a program supervisor, outreach workers, and violence interrupters (“credible messengers” who have themselves experienced violence) who work with young people ages 16 to 25, community organizations, and the public.

Using the Cure Violence evidence‐based anti‐violence model that originated in Chicago, B.R.A.G. is established within the 46th Police Precinct encompassing the Bronx sections of Fordham, University Heights, Morrisania Heights, and Mount Hope in the Bronx to determine the catchment area most impacted by gun violence.