Project Story

There are neighborhoods within Washington, District of Columbia in which their residents and small business owners bear a disproportionate weight of violent crimes and lesser aggressions compared to other city neighborhoods. Community and interpersonal violence in these neighborhoods are a steady and persistent condition, with episodic surges. This is one of those times. And clearly, these times call for more action by more people.

Formed by a group of concerned community members, DC Peace Team learns the needs of communities and empowers ordinary civilians to increasingly serve their communities particularly as nonviolent peacekeepers, and by extension as peacemakers and peacebuilders. In practical terms, DC Peace Team amplifies community wisdom and mobilizes community members with subject expertise to teach their neighbors peaceful practices like bystander intervention, nonviolent communication, unarmed civilian protection, and restorative justice processes.

The DC Peace Team is operated entirely by volunteers. The team has not been able to reach its full potential due to this staffing shortage. In particular, the DC Peace Team has not been able to offer many of its trainings and other peaceful practice supports to the very District of Columbia neighborhoods most lacking in peace.

DC Peace Team has invited Peace Through Action USA to help address this situation. Peace Through Action USA will assign a compensated national service participant to the team. The peace agent will help the team increase the scale of its nonviolent skills building activities and expand its reach to neighborhoods in the city with the greatest need for additional nonviolent alternatives to engage conflict.

Project Activities

• Form relationships with neighborhood-based organizations and groups to establish trust between neighborhood leaders and DC Peace Team.
• Organize and deliver training and ongoing support in bystander intervention, nonviolent communication, unarmed civilian protection, and restorative justice processes.
• Facilitate restorative justice processes for neighbors and neighborhoods harmed by violence.

Project Target Impacts

Peace Through Action USA will measure impact of the Washington DC Community Peace Project by tracking and reporting the following:

• Number of requests for organization services, types of requests, and neighborhoods to be served by requests
• Number of nonviolent practices skills training events held
• Number of attendees at skills training events
• Changes in community member peace knowledge, attitudes, skills, or practices resulting from attendance at organization events

What You Can Do to Support the Washington, DC Community Peace Project

• Give a gift of money to support expansion of the DC Peace Team online (bit.ly/peacegivewdc) or by texting “Give” to 202-410.0372.

• Engage with the DC Peace Team on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/DcPeaceTeam) and track our accomplishments and activities in the District of Columbia and elsewhere by subscribing to the DC Peace Team email list and Peace Through Action’s e-news.

• Volunteer your talent and time toward the DC Peace Team by writing to team coordinator Eli McCarthy at esm52@georgetown.edu.

• Promote your support for the DC Peace Team and encourage your friends and family to join you. Suggested messages here (bit.ly/peaceactwdcpromo).

• Uplift the spirits of people working toward peace in the District of Columbia through prayer, meditation, and healing (bit.ly/peaceactuplift).

Project Resources

• Project Announcement (bit.ly/peaceactwdcannounce)
• Project Information Sheet (bit.ly/peaceactwdcinfo)
• Project Web Page (bit.ly/peaceactwdc)
• Project Giving Page (bit.ly/peacegivewdc)
• DC Peace Team Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/DcPeaceTeam)
• Project Promotion Messages (bit.ly/peaceactwdcpromo)
• Project Images (http://bit.ly/peaceactphotos)
• Project Videos (http://bit.ly/peaceactvideos)