Fresno abruptly loses federal grant credited for big drop in city’s gun violence
A gun violence reduction program credited for making a noticeable impact in Fresno has suddenly lost its federal grant funding.
“On Tuesday afternoon, Fresno EOC Advance Peace Fresno received word that its $2 million, three-year grant from the Department of Justice ended immediately with no forewarning,” Brian Angus, Interim CEO of Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission, said in a statement to The Bee Thursday afternoon.
Advance Peace is an organization dedicated to “ending the cycle of retaliatory gun violence in American urban neighborhoods.”
The grant was awarded in 2023 by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative.
The Bee reached out to the DOJ for comment on why the award was terminated.
Advance Peace Fresno is housed at Fresno EOC and is managed by Aaron Foster, who introduced the program to Fresno EOC after losing two children to gun violence.
“This is a detriment to the great work we have been doing to successfully decrease violence in Fresno. We are deeply concerned about the potential outcome and impact to our community that needs us the most. Our goal moving forward is to continue to do the work,” Foster said.
The grant had been used to expand the gun violence reduction efforts and hire employees when it was awarded in 2023.
To date, EOC had used half of the $2 million grant, said EOC spokesperson Amanda Venegas.
The work will still continue, although at a reduced capacity.
“While this sudden loss of funds has impacted the program and reduced staff; our mission remains the same to reduce gun violence in Fresno and transform lives,” Angus said.
Marcel Woodruff, an affiliate of Advance Peace who advocated for the program in Fresno, said the sudden termination of the grant funding is “saddening.”
He said Advance Peace is still working out the details and implications.
“They had a powerful impact,” he said.
A 2023 UC Berkeley Public Health report on Fresno’s Advance Peace Fresno said there had been a 35.6% reduction in all shootings in Southwest Fresno in 2022 compared to the prior year during the fellowship with Advance Peace Fresno.
“Southwest Fresno has historically had one of the greatest burdens of gun homicide and shooting victims within Fresno,” the report said.
Researchers estimate Advance Peace also likely saved Fresno city and county between $90 to $252 million in gun violence related costs due to gun violence interruptions/mediations.
Advance Peace history in Fresno
Advance Peace Fresno got under way in fall 2020 after an uphill battle to receive public support.
The prevention program identifies the city’s most likely shooters and crosschecks them with police, Foster said in 2020. Those potential shooters are asked to join a program run by advocates.
According to previous Fresno Bee reporting, city funding for Advance Peace became a “lightning-rod issue” in 2019 when the Fresno City Council first considered the program and then-mayor Lee Brand later vetoed the funding.
Conservative Valley politicians criticized the program for paying stipends to participants to not commit crimes.
According to a plan adopted in 2020, the city planned to commit about $300,000 annually for three years to Advance Peace.
But Mayor Jerry Dyer and then Police Chief Paco Balderrama were hesitant to continue support of the program after the arrest of an Advance Peace employee in a gang sweep in 2022.
After public pressure urging the city to support the program, Fresno City Council’s approved a $375,000 contract with Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission to operate Advance Peace in October 2022.
The funding was part of a $1.5 million investment into violence intervention and prevention, which supported 12 other contracts with community-based organizations. The city used both federal American Rescue Plan Act funding and the city’s general fund money.
The city of Fresno also received a $300,000 grant from the Department of Justice to support Advance Peace in late 2022.
In 2023, former Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama credited programs and partnerships like Advance Peace and other collaborations for helping to reduce gun violence in Fresno.
The city’s fiscal year 2024 budget also allocated $375,000 to the program because it had “proven to be successful this past year in contributing to a dramatic reduction in gang violence and homicides in our city.”
This story was originally published April 28, 2025 at 9:46 AM with the headline "Fresno abruptly loses federal grant credited for big drop in city’s gun violence."
