6. Operations and Values: Community Perceptions

Community perceptions of Acclivus convey the image described in Acclivus promotional materials and staff interviews. Community leaders and partners described Acclivus as an effective organization that focuses on preventing and interrupting community violence. This perception held whether persons were talking about the hospital response or community outreach program.

• Acclivus works to curb violence that exists in Chicago through having hospital responders, community interventions and staying in front of situations. Such as last year when there was talk of fighting between Blacks and Latinos, Acclivus was one of the organizations that stepped up and helped bring calm.
• I have had several patients who have been shot and find themselves at a crossroads because they do not want to go back to harm’s way and Acclivus helps them make transitions. It is also because they know the culture both of the streets and the Black and Brown individuals. Acclivus’ staff provides a comfort to the patient because they identify with them and they can provide realistic pathways because the change is not always immediate.
• The newspapers do not publish stories about violence that did not take place, but I am from the hood. My staff and
  I know enough people to know when there is the potential for foul play to occur and we know that each week there are disputes that are put to rest through the work of Acclivus.
• This is a solid organization but they will have to adapt to the changes that occur.
• I think that Acclivus is an essential organization to supplement the public safety efforts from law enforcement. It is necessary to have men and women working every day in our communities to stop violence. What is unique about the outreach work of Acclivus and other groups is that they are entrenched where violence is occurring and therefore can actually reduce the number of episodes of violence from occurring.
• Acclivus is very effective in helping manage the very intense period after someone has been shot and friends and family members begin to gather at the hospital. Since there was a shooting very often the police are present and want access to the patient and any possible witnesses. Acclivus helps to manage that process which of course allows the hospital staff to do their job. I have seen these situations play out more than 50 times a year. I have seen Acclivus bring in family members or friends that are able to get people who are angry to calm down.

Acclivus staff are perceived as persons who care about their work and the people and communities they serve, and who can be depended on when issues arise.

• They understand the communities where the individuals come from and the dynamics of the situations. They truly understand the culture and without being judgmental provide them with valuable assistance.
• I think the most positive thing is that they are responsive. When I call the hotline, someone always answers and then someone always shows up within an hour. When I ask them to calm family members or friends of the patient, they always make that happen without us having to involve security or the police.
• I know the community engagement director. He has been working on behalf of the community for years. I know that he would not have joined an organization that did not share his values and beliefs about helping the community. I have also had numerous conversations with the CEO and community field director which reflect what I know about the engagement director’s values.
• Moreover, they are viewed not only as service providers but as individuals who are effective advocates for communities experiencing violence and other social ills and as models and advocates for other organizations serving these communities.
• The best thing I like that this organization did was to hire a woman to manage the team in community (X). That showed me that this organization understands the importance of diversity and fairness. It showed me that this is a pretty forward-thinking organization.
• I think what is very important that this organization does is bring credibility to their work. They have the community backgrounds, proper credentials from institutions of higher learning and years of experience. The other important factor is they bring integrity. They had managed a substantial amount of funding without giving themselves monumental raises or funding groups run by their relatives. This is a very sound organization that is a model of what we need working in our communities.
• Advocacy is also a strength of the leadership. They have traveled to Springfield on numerous occasions to advocate for adequate funding to be appropriated to address violence.

Community residents, similar to Acclivus’ partners and community leaders, saw Acclivus as an effective community violence and prevention organization. They talked about the organization’s effectiveness and strength in terms of changing lives, transforming lives, or helping people “turn their lives around” more so than in terms of violence prevention. They also gave examples of how they thought the work was done or what they saw as the approach to work that facilitated individual change.

• I think their strength is communication. They communicate to the communities. They are able to effectively articulate the issues of the communities. They are able to communicate using the language of the individuals who are causing issues and getting them on board to change their lives and their friends’ lives.
• The unity. How everybody in the organization has the two-way communication of giving information and listening to what the community says. Their response from what
  I have seen is to rely both on what they know and what the community tells them.
• They move around in the community identifying who might have just come home from the joint and may be likely to be a shooter or instigate shooting. Then they arrange a meeting with the individual and try to identify who they are into it with or may be into with in the future. They may get both sides together to try to squash it or they may just have somebody in the ear of the other side. While all that is happening they are asking the person who just came home, what do they need like housing, job, food or legal help.
• The community outreach workers, they are experienced and close to the situations. They can communicate effectively.
• From where I stand, Acclivus is an organization that is led by a Black Executive Director, has a predominantly Black workforce and works to reduce violence in Black communities on Chicago’s south side. I believe this is unique.

Community stakeholders used what they see, rather than statistics or news media accounts to pass judgment on organizational effectiveness and success.

• They are very effective because they have targeted the violence areas. I have not seen the data, but I know because of how close I am to the streets.
• They are effective for the most part, yes. Because they can get into the neighborhood where the real issues exist. Which is something that law enforcement cannot do. I base that on what I see. I have seen it from when they are doing canvassing by my house and by my job.
• Based on what I have seen, they have influence that no one else has.
• Last year, when the looters were on a rampage the guys from Acclivus went to 47th Street and posted up and kept the looters from getting to businesses that would hurt forever if they had been looted. The police were nowhere to be found.
• Yes, they are effective. I can take a drive around my area and see places where people used to congregate and now young people are playing there. That would not be possible without the influence of Acclivus’ workforce moving some of those individuals who spent their days loitering now spending their days working or being trained to work.
  I also meet with the police and Alderman on a regular basis and know from those meetings that they are confident in Acclivus’ continued ability to reduce violence.
• Acclivus is doing their best to stop the violence. They are getting to the right people and are listening without telling people they are horrible and should be locked up. Why not give them money if they are one of the few doing the real work?
• I have seen them take a guy from our block and put him right to work. I have seen them having meetings with groups who were at it for years and no pistol play resulted. They are not God so they cannot prevent every single incident but they are giving it their all. This is the best anyone is doing to calm down this shooting.
• Ain’t nobody else trying to help us for real, for real. They got these fake programs out here that make you sign up after you get out (of prison). Knowing you need a job ASAP, they make you come to their office every day for two to three weeks to learn how to look for a job, how to act on the job and prepare a resume for a job that they not even willing to help you get. Then they say you certified to look for a job. Meanwhile, you still broke as shit, your baby mama calling you worthless and your children are looking at you like you crazy. So, to have these brothers asking you can you work here or do you want this job they hiring now is real important. Now, don’t get me wrong, they (Acclivus) are giving you the whole script about work ethic, be on time, dress appropriately, monitor your attitude and everything the fake programs do but they are giving it to you in conversation while at the same time maybe giving you food for your family or interview clothes. They are real important.
• They are strong Black men who have had challenges in life, but they care and have changed their life around to be role models, and they show up in these communities.
• I feel that their leadership has a strong grasp on the violence that plagues our communities. I also feel that the leadership of the organization does a good job in hiring and training their staff to work in the community with those individuals who are engaged in activities that lead to violence. Advocacy is also a strength of the leadership.

Community residents usually learned about or became aware of Acclivus through referrals or by what they observed. Some had personal relationships with staff or knew them from other encounters.

• I learned about it through the CEO who I had known before.
• I learned about Acclivus through a couple of friends. My son was acting out and I was told to contact them for some mentoring and support.
• I saw the staff canvassing and patrolling the neighborhood.
• I had seen them walking through the community before
  I met them but I did not know what they did.

In contrast, community leaders and partners indicated they learned about the organization through formal presentations that Acclivus leaders made at community meetings or to staff at community agencies and organizations. Even when partners and community leaders knew Acclivus staff personally, they stressed formal presentations as their way of learning about what the organization does.

• The Acclivus Field Directors delivered a presentation to our trauma unit staff that discussed that Acclivus would be providing the services that were formerly provided by Cure Violence. I had known them before when they worked at Cure Violence. The programs and services are the same as they were under Cure Violence.
• A representative of the organization gave a presentation in Springfield right after the organization was launched.
  I knew the CEO from his work at CeaseFire.
• I believe my first formal contact with this organization was when there was a presentation at our office. I have known the community engagement director for many, many years and he met with me and gave me an overview of the organization.

A person who identified himself as being an ally, though not a community partner or leader, indicated that although he knew about the organization he became more aware and supportive through a community meeting.

• I met some of the guys from Acclivus at a meeting last year with police in the 2nd district. When I found out they were trying to help guys get out of harm’s way, I told them I would do what I could to aid and assist.

When asked about things they had concerns about or would like to see changed, community leaders, partners, and residents focused on positive aspects of the organization, usually asking for more of the same.

• They need to expand to other communities.
• Need more Black women and Latinx women.
• They should continue using social media and WVON.
• I did not like that Acclivus staff did not have access to our patients during COVID. I feel that was a critical oversight.
• Like I said earlier, they need some younger guys. But I will add that they need some young women in their twenties too because quiet as it is kept, there are some females out here that will pop that thang too.
• I do not have any concerns about Acclivus.
• In the setting that I am in, it works. I do not know about the community but they are probably doing what they need to do there also.