TOLEDO, Ohio — The Healing and Compassion Fund will grant families of gun violence victims up to $2,000 of support, after receiving approval from Toledo City Council.
The money can help with relocation expenses, minor home repairs, funeral costs, temporary respite, lost wages, biohazard cleanup, basic needs and home security cameras, according to the city.
Aviance Hill with Sisters 4 Unity, an organization formed by mothers who have lost children because of gun violence, was instrumental in making the fund happen.
"I was smiling, then I started crying and jumping up and down," Hill said when she learned the funding was approved. "I was floored, it was a lot of emotions at one time."
Hill lost her son, Isaac Carpenter, to gun violence in July 2022.
"Certainly felt like a victory," said Malcolm Cunningham, director of the city's Office of Safety and Engagement.
Cunningham said the Healing and Compassion Fund is part of the city's Peace in Motion initiative, a five-year comprehensive plan to address gun violence in August.
Cunningham said his office is allocating $35,000 from its budget to get the initiative going and hopes the city will match it. But either way, he said he wants the community to see its worth and pitch in.
"We really just hope that there is kind of a community-based effort to bolster this fund, to ensure that it continues to be evergreen and it's not something that's based off an office, it's based off community," he said.
Hill knows what loss feels like, and said she wishes something like the Healing and Compassion Fund existed when she lost her son.
"People can begin to walk this journey and walk this journey together," she said.
Cunningham said the city plans to launch the fund in January.