Daily Freeman: Samadhi gets more funding for anti-gun violence program in Ulster County

THE DAILY FREEMAN

For the second time this month, officials have announced thousands of dollars to a substance abuse recovery center for an anti-gun violence program’.

State Senator Michelle Hinchey, D-Saugerties, and Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, also a Democrat, said Monday that $170,000 in state funding has been secured for the anti-gun violence prevention program known as CURE, operated locally by organizers at the Samadhi Recovery Community Outreach Center and known as the Samadhi Anti-Gun Violence Prevention Program.

Hinchey first brought the CURE model to Kingston in 2021, having created a line item in the state budget to fund the program, and has secured $50,000 each year to keep it running, for a total appropriation of $100,000, an announcement said.

The governor’s office has committed $70,000 to Samadhi for gun violence prevention efforts and U.S. Rep. Pat Ryan recently announced another $430,000 through a federal grant.

The CURE Violence Model is an evidence-based violence prevention program that originated in Chicago to address gang violence and reduce retaliatory killings. The program employs trained outreach workers, also known as “credible messengers,” who “have strong ties to their community and relationships with young adults, local leaders, and service providers,” a press release said.

“Focused primarily on youth between the ages of 14 and 24, credible messengers work with law enforcement to try and prevent retaliatory gun violence before it happens, respond to incidents, and re-direct the young people away from life on the streets by linking youth with needed services, such as mental health support, jobs, housing, substance use programs, and educational opportunities,” the release said.

Hinchey said Ulster County is ripe for such a program.

“Ulster County has experienced unimaginable trauma, loss, and devastation caused by gun violence, and I am proud to have delivered the first stream of state funding that allowed Samadhi to create a community-led program that will make our streets safer and help youth seek meaningful life pathways away from violence,” Hinchey said in a statement. “There is no work more important than keeping our communities safe, and that is the work being championed by local advocates and law enforcement through Samadhi’s Anti-Gun Violence Prevention Program.”

Delgado felt similarly.

“It’s incredibly rewarding to announce today that funding I secured while in Congress has made it across the finish line and into the program here at Samadhi Recovery Outreach Center to support their gun violence prevention program,” Delgado said in a statement.

“There is no one size fits all approach to stemming gun violence – we need to come at it from every angle and this innovative program is helping us get to the heart of the problem in the neighborhoods, in the streets, where the violence is most prevalent.