Pincus Family Foundation gives $500,000 grant for Tulane program aimed at curbing New Orleans violence
This article was produced as a project for the 2017 National Fellowship, a program of the USC Annenberg Center for Health Journalism.
Other stories in this series include:
The story behind 'The Children of Central City'
How exposure to violence can be toxic to a child's brain and body
City leaders call attention to 'Children of Central City'
Watch 'The Children of Central City' documentary
More rescue efforts are needed in Central City | Opinion
New Orleans City Council urges schools to address trauma in student lives
Photo by Brett Duke, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune
by Della Hasselle
Tulane University announced Wednesday that the Pincus Family Foundation, a nonprofit created in 2005, awarded a $550,000 grant to the school to create an interdisciplinary program aimed at preventing the violence that plagues New Orleans' streets.
The Pincus Family Foundation Violence Prevention Scholarship program will partner faculty members from the Tulane Violence Prevention Institute with a network of up to 10 community organizations focused on children's well-being.
The money will fund a two-year graduate training program for selected scholars, according to Keith Brannon, a Tulane spokesman.
Tulane University announced Wednesday that the Pincus Family Foundation, a nonprofit created in 2005, awarded a $550,000 grant to the school to create an interdisciplinary program aimed at preventing the violence that plagues New Orleans' streets.
The Pincus Family Foundation Violence Prevention Scholarship program will partner faculty members from the Tulane Violence Prevention Institute with a network of up to 10 community organizations focused on children's well-being.
The money will fund a two-year graduate training program for selected scholars, according to Keith Brannon, a Tulane spokesman.
The grant-funded work will start this summer, as organizers choose up to 10 community partners focused on child well-being and violence-related issues, according to Dr. Stacy Drury, a professor of child psychiatry whose work has focused on understanding how at-risk children are impacted by traumatic early life experiences.
Her past research has shown that an infant’s ability to regulate stress was influenced by both the mother's experience during pregnancy and by stressful encounters from when she was younger, meaning that what happens to a mom long before she even gets pregnant can have a lasting effect on her family.
The first six scholars will begin next fall by taking new courses, including a violence prevention studio seminar taught by Tulane faculty and leaders of community organizations.
By the second year, the students will be working directly with the partners to start violence prevention work in New Orleans' communities, with the goal "to promote child well-being in a way that centers around each community’s unique needs and is rooted in cultural humility, evidence-based practice, sustainability and rigorous evaluation,” Taylor said.
[This article was originally published by nola.com.]