Building A Community Against Violence

The Commonwealth Justice Coalition reimagines public safety in the Commonwealth of Virginia and puts it into practice. We hold that true public safety is a community-centered public safety ecosystem.

Sam Heath, Jean Knorr, and Susan Perry met in the summer of 2023 and heard from countless nonprofits that justice work in the Charlottesville area was rich and thriving yet needed a collaborative container for all the overlapping needs, events, and advocacy opportunities.

Charlottesville is a ten-square-mile city of 50,000 people, closely connected to surrounding counties and Richmond. Within its limits are more than 700 nonprofits—many focused on justice-related issues such as healthcare, housing, education, and the criminal legal system. Each year, hundreds of homeless residents and more than 300 people returning from incarceration come to our community. Gun violence persists, and countless spaces like Charlottesville City Schools can engage even more in restorative practices rather than punitive responses like suspension and expulsion.

Charlottesville faces a serious justice challenge. Nonprofits and city services are often scattered and siloed. Many spend most of their energy simply sustaining their budgets rather than advancing systemic change. The justice landscape has shifted. Federal funding cuts have weakened many local groups, while the field remains crowded with nonprofits competing for limited resources.

Public safety is still too often defined by punishment—police, prisons, and control. In Charlottesville and the Commonwealth as a whole, this punitive frame dominates, reinforcing rather than breaking the cycle of harm and violence.

Our response was to help build community.