The SC2 Austin Communications Team recently brought the community together for a documentary watch party featuring The Good News (an Austin Forward. Together. film), followed by a panel discussion on what it takes to build lasting safety in Austin. The film highlights Austin’s community-led quality-of-life plan, celebrating progress in Community Narrative, Economic Development, Education, Housing, Public Safety, Youth Empowerment, and Civic Engagement.
The panel included SC2 representatives from Heartland Human Care Services, BUILD, Together Chicago—represented by our supervisor Ed Brown—Institute for Nonviolence Chicago, Westside Health Authority, and a faith-based leader. The moderator’s questions moved from personal motivation to drivers of violence, to community ownership, and what “real impact” should look like in SC2’s second year.
A few lines captured the evening: “Rules without relationship only builds rebellion,” “We can’t outsource accountability,” and “Capital doesn’t build community; community builds capital.”
SC2—Scaling Community Violence Intervention for a Safer Chicago—aims to strengthen and scale community violence intervention so the highest-risk people in the most impacted areas can be reached, with public goals of cutting shootings and homicides significantly over time. Learn more about SC2 here.
