PEORIA, Ill. – The Peoria City/County Health Department needs a new partner for its yet-to-be-started community-based violence prevention program.
25 News reports the department will cut ties with House of Hope Peoria on Saturday.
A health department spokesperson says the group was given a 30-day notice of termination on July 18 due to a “lack of progress.”
House of Hope was supposed to implement the “Cure Violence” program. The group received a $563,000 grant from the department earlier this year for it, as well as another award, both totalling $650,000.
But the spokesperson said most of the money was being used for employee salaries, with seven employees onboarded on July 29th and currently being paid, despite the program not starting.
The first program chosen to implement the violence prevention program was Peoria Community Against Violence in April of 2023, focused on the East Bluff. But PCAV folded in November of 2023, due to financial struggles.
House of Hope was then selected to focus on the city’s South Side.
The department is planning to weigh its options moving forward, with a deadline to spend the $650,000 in grant funding by June 30th, 2025. One potential option is to send employees directly into areas of the South Side.
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