A Personal Journey to Healers of Gun Violence

A Heartbreaking Encounter Sparks a Calling

Seven years ago, Erica Green’s life changed forever when she learned through a Facebook post that her brother had been shot. Rushing to Denver Health, the city’s safety-net hospital, she was met not with answers but with frustration. Emergency room workers rebuffed her pleas for information, criticizing her for causing a disturbance. In her distress, she found solace in a familiar face: Jerry Morgan, a violence prevention professional from her neighborhood. Morgan, part of the At-Risk Intervention and Mentoring program (AIM), had been alerted to the shooting via a pager and rushed to the hospital to support Green’s family. His presence and support during that traumatic moment made an indelible mark on Green. “It made the situation of that traumatic experience so much better,” she recalled. “After that, I was, like, I want to do this work.” Today, Green works alongside Morgan as the program manager for AIM, a hospital-linked violence intervention program that has become a lifeline for countless families affected by gun violence.

A Program Born from Passion and Partnership

AIM was launched in 2010 as a partnership between Denver Health and the nonprofit Denver Youth Program. Since its inception, it has expanded to include Children’s Hospital Colorado and the University of Colorado Hospital, solidifying its role as a cornerstone of community-based violence prevention in Denver. AIM is part of a growing national movement of hospital-linked violence intervention programs that address the root causes of gun violence—such as inadequate housing, unemployment, and neighborhood safety concerns—by connecting patients with vital resources. These programs do not just treat physical wounds but also work to heal the social and economic fractures that contribute to cycles of violence.

Green’s personal connection to this work is deeply rooted in her family’s experience with gun violence. “I feel very blessed to be able to show up for my community this way,” she said, reflecting on her role. For Green and her team, this work is more than a job—it’s a calling born out of lived experience and a commitment to breaking the cycle of violence.

A National Movement to Interrupt the Cycle of Violence

AIM is one of dozens of hospital-linked violence intervention programs across the U.S. These programs take a public health approach to gun violence, recognizing that shootings are not just isolated incidents but symptoms of broader societal issues. For example, a program in San Francisco reported a fourfold reduction in violent injury recidivism rates over six years, demonstrating the effectiveness of this approach. Despite these successes, the long-term federal funding for such programs remains uncertain. President Trump’s executive orders reviewing Biden administration gun policies and federal grants have created anxiety among organizers, with some seeking alternative funding sources. “We’ve been worried about, if a domino does fall, how is it going to impact us? There’s a lot of unknowns,” said John Torres of Oakland’s Youth Alive.

Federal data underscores the urgency of addressing gun violence as a public health crisis. It became a leading cause of death among children and young adults in the early 2010s and claimed more than 48,000 lives in 2022 alone. Dr. Chethan Sathya, a pediatric trauma surgeon and firearms injury prevention researcher, emphasized that gun violence cannot be ignored as a health care issue. “It’s killing so many people,” he said. Research also shows that survivors of violent injuries face heightened risks of future harm, with the likelihood of death increasing significantly after the third injury.

Interrupting the Cycle Through Intervention

The emergency room is often the first point of contact for victims of gun violence, making it a critical setting for intervention. Benjamin Li, an emergency medicine physician and AIM’s medical director, explained that simply treating physical wounds and sending patients back to the same environments that led to their injuries is not enough. “If you are just seeing the person, patching them up, and then sending them right back into the exact same circumstances, we know it’s going to lead to them being hurt again,” he said. AIM outreach workers meet with gunshot wound victims at their hospital bedsides to have tough, nonjudgmental conversations about what led to their injuries. This information helps the program connect patients with resources to address their challenges, whether it’s finding housing, returning to school or work, or navigating the court system.

In some cases, AIM even helps patients relocate to safer areas or access education and job opportunities. “We try to help in whatever capacity we can, but it’s interdependent on whatever the client needs,” said Jerry Morgan, AIM’s lead outreach worker. Since its founding, AIM has grown from three full-time outreach workers to nine and recently opened the REACH Clinic in Denver’s Five Points neighborhood. The clinic provides holistic care, including wound-care kits, physical therapy, and mental health services, with plans to add bullet removal services soon.

A Movement Strengthened by Community Trust

Programs like AIM are part of a growing movement of community-based clinics focused on addressing violent injuries. These clinics, such as the Bullet Related Injury Clinic in St. Louis, build trust between health care providers and communities of color, which have historically faced racial biases in medical care. Ginny McCarthy, an assistant professor at the University of Colorado, described REACH as “an extension of the hospital-based work, providing holistic treatment in a single location.” By bridging the gap between hospitals and communities, these programs foster long-term healing and empowerment.

Caught in the Crossfire, launched in 1994 by Oakland’s Youth Alive, is often cited as the nation’s first hospital-linked violence intervention program. It has inspired others to adopt similar models, and the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention now counts 74 such programs among its membership. Fatimah Loren Dreier, the alliance’s executive director, compared addressing gun violence to preventing an infectious disease. “That disease spreads if you don’t have good sanitation in places where people aggregate,” she said. By identifying and addressing the root causes of violence, these programs aim to create safer, healthier communities.

Funding Challenges and the Fight for Sustainability

Despite their success, hospital-linked violence intervention programs face significant funding challenges. AIM relies on a mix of grants and city funding, with 30% of its budget coming from Denver’s Office of Community Violence Solutions. However, federal funding remains uncertain, particularly under shifting political leadership. President Biden’s 2021 executive action allowed states to use Medicaid for violence prevention, and several states, including California, New York, and Colorado, have established Medicaid benefits for such programs. The 2022 Bipartisan Safer Communities Act also earmarked $1.4 billion for violence-prevention initiatives through 2024.

But recent actions by President Trump, including a review of Biden’s gun policies and the defunding of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, have cast a shadow over the future of these programs. Some are pinning their hopes on alternative funding sources, such as a voter-approved firearms and ammunition excise tax in Colorado expected to generate $39 million annually. However, the tax’s revenues won’t fully materialize until 2026, and its allocation remains unclear.

Trauma surgeon Catherine Velopulos, AIM’s medical director at the University of Colorado Hospital, emphasized the importance of maintaining federal funding. “Any interruption in federal funding, even for a few months, would be very difficult for us,” she said. Yet Velopulos remains optimistic, citing bipartisan support for the work of programs like AIM. “People want to oversimplify the problem and just say, ‘If we get rid of guns, it’s all going to stop,’ or ‘It doesn’t matter what we do, because they’re going to get guns anyway,’” she said. “What we really have to address is why people feel so scared that they have to arm themselves.”

Hospital-linked violence intervention programs like AIM represent a compassionate and evidence-based approach to reducing gun violence. By addressing the social determinants of health and providing holistic care, these programs not only save lives but also empower communities to break free from cycles of trauma and harm. As the fight for sustainable funding continues, one thing is clear: this work is vital, and the people behind it are driven by a shared vision of a safer, healthier future for all.