The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute’s Campaign for Peace — a drive to raise $25 million to build a new center to further the Institute’s transformative work on behalf of survivors and families impacted by homicide — continued to gather momentum last week with the Massachusetts Legislature’s appropriation of $2.5 million toward the project. 

The measure benefiting the Peace Institute, sponsored by Rep. Christopher Worrell (5th Suffolk) and Sen. Nick Collins (First Suffolk), was included in the economic development bond bill passed by the House and Senate Thursday night.

“We are grateful to the entire Massachusetts legislative body, and we extend special thanks to Representative Chris Worrell and Senator Nick Collins for their leadership in securing a $2.5 million earmark for the Center of Healing, Teaching and Learning in the economic development bond bill,” said Clementina Chéry, the Peace Institute’s founder and chief executive officer.

The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute’s Campaign for Peace seeks to raise $25 million to construct a Center of Healing, Teaching and Learning in one of Boston’s most impacted neighborhoods. The new center will allow the Peace Institute to expand its pioneering services and programs in the areas of homicide response, victim advocacy, and violence prevention, and will transform a vacant lot into a hub for healing, education, and positive change in the community, the city, and the entire state. 

“Families of murdered victims have a unique understanding of how violence impacts individuals, families and communities,” Alexandra Dorrelus and Rachel Rodrigues, the Peace Institute’s co-executive directors, said. “As we celebrate our 30th year of existence, we look forward to scaling our programs and leading the movement for peace right in the heart of Dorchester.”

The bill now awaits Governor Healey’s signature.

“As the representative of the 5th Suffolk District, I am filled with pride to have championed the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute earmark to receive significant bond funding in the 2024 Economic Development Bill,” Representative Worrell said. “This vital investment recognizes the critical work the Institute does in supporting families affected by violence and promoting peace within our communities. The funding will enhance their capacity to provide essential services, foster healing, and advance their mission of transforming society’s response to homicide. It is a testament to our commitment to building safer, stronger, and more resilient communities, especially for those disproportionately impacted by violence.”

“I am proud to have sponsored the Louis D Brown Peace Institute Earmark in the 2024 Economic Development Bill. With this $2.5 million in bond authorizations, the vision for the Center of Healing, Teaching and Learning moves closer to the finish line,” Senator Collins added. “I look forward to working alongside the Institute to support the development of their new facility and the expansion of their vital services as they continue to protect our communities from the impacts of violence.”

The Peace Institute was founded in 1994, one year after 15-year-old Louis D. Brown was caught in a fatal gang crossfire near his Dorchester home while on his way to a Teens Against Gang Violence meeting. Over the three decades that have followed, the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute has provided support and resources to thousands of people whose families have been impacted by homicide, trauma, grief, and loss. The organization will mark its 30th anniversary on Dec. 20, with lighting of the Prudential Building in the Institute’s signature purple, followed by a celebration event at Venezia Boston.

About the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute

Marking the 30th anniversary of its founding this December, the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute is a leader in homicide response, violence prevention, and peacebuilding, filling a gap in much-needed local services while developing an innovative, effective model that leads the field of Community Violence Intervention. Clementina Chéry co-founded the LDBPI in 1994 to honor the legacy of her son Louis D. Brown, a homicide victim, and to continue the peacemaking work he led. The LDBPI created The Peace Curriculum to promote peace and violence prevention and to provide ways to deal with murder, trauma, grief and loss. The Peace Curriculum was recognized by the United States Department of Justice for its contribution to the reduction of juvenile crime in Boston. In 1996, the City of Boston began referring survivors of homicide victims to Clementina to guide them through the aftermath of the murder of a loved one. Clementina worked to ensure that all survivors were treated with dignity and compassion regardless of their life circumstances. Today, the LDBPI delivers coordinated and consistent services to families impacted by violence and is an integral partner to cities and organizations nationwide in transforming society’s response to homicide. The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute recently launched the transformative $25 million Campaign for Peace to support expansion of its programs and services and construction of a new Center of Healing, Teaching and Learning. More than just a building, the planned Center will transform a vacant lot into a hub for healing and education and drive positive change in the community, throughout Boston, and across the Commonwealth, and will be a model for cities nationwide.

About Louis D. Brown

“If true peace is to happen, it will be up to my generation, regardless of which side of the street we come from.” This was the vision of Louis D. Brown, a 15-year-old youth activist. With dreams of obtaining his Ph.D, he set his sights on becoming the first Black president of the United States. Troubled by the increase of violence in his community, he joined the Teens Against Gang Violence (TAGV), a peer leadership group that educated youth on the impact of gang violence and advocated for its reduction.

On December 20, 1993, while en route to a TAGV Christmas party, Louis was killed in the crossfire of a gang shootout near his Dorchester home. That sudden, tragic loss birthed the

organizing work that became the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute. Today, the organization is guided by Louis’s passion for life, legacy of peacemaking, and wise words: “Make the impossible possible; work smart, not hard; and try to do the best you can and not what people expect to see.”

Boston, MA | July 17, 2024 — Join Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice (CSSJ) and the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute on July 25th, 2024 for Right to Heal, an inspiring community event as part of CSSJ’s Multi-City Right to Heal Tour and National Gun Violence Awareness Month. 

Hosted in collaboration with Mass Design Group, the Boston event will feature an intimate conversation between Aswad Thomas, a survivor of gun violence and the National Director of Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice, Chaplain Clementina Chéry, Founder, president and CEO of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute and Isaac Yablo, Senior Advisor for Community Safety for the City of Boston. 

They will share their personal stories of being impacted by violence and discuss the work they have led to heal their communities.

“As crime victims, we want what happened to us to never happen again or to never happen to someone else,” said Mr. Thomas. “For too long, the popular use of the phrase “victim rights” has been synonymous with punishment and subsumed by systems that most victims not only do not use, but contribute to more harm and trauma. What would it look like if ‘victim rights’ were synonymous with ‘HEALING?’”

“I anticipate the opportunity to converse with these two remarkable men,” added Ms. Chéry. “Typically, women are the faces of survivorship. This event provides a unique chance to hear powerful testimonies and reflections from men, to discover what is in their hearts and how their experiences have shaped their journeys towards healing and advocacy.”

“Healing after violence is one of the most challenging, yet necessary things that survivors must prioritize,” added Mr. Yablo. “We’re blessed to live in a city where support is available, accessible and trauma-informed.”

Attendees will also learn about the upcoming Crime Survivors Speak March on Washington, taking place on September 23rd and 24th, 2024. The event will also introduce the Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice “Right to Heal” policy platform, which addresses the needs of crime survivors and promotes access, healing, protection, safety, and trauma recovery for all.

This event is a crucial part of the movement to support crime survivors and ensure their voices are heard. Don’t miss this chance to be part of a meaningful dialogue and contribute to the development of policies that prioritize the healing and safety of all communities.

Event Details

Name: Crime Survivors Speak Right to Heal

Hosted by: Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice and the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, in collaboration with Mass Design Group

Where: MASS Design Group — 1 Chandler Street. Boston, MA 02116

When: July 25th, 2024 from 6pm – 8pm

RSVP: by July 18th to Danielle@LDBpeaceinstitute.org

About Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice

Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice (CSSJ) is a national network of crime survivors joining together to create healing communities and shape public safety policy. CSSJ elevates the voices of survivors to build community leadership and drive change.

About The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute is a center of Healing, Teaching and Learning for families and communities impacted by murder, trauma, grief and loss. An integral partner with the City of Boston for 30 years, we offer resources for families seeking support and training to providers on best practices in homicide response. Learn more at LDBpeaceinstitute.org.

July 12, 2024

Boston, MA – On July 11th, The Massachusetts Senate passed an Economic Development Bond Bill that included a $2.5 million dollar earmark for the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute’s planned Center of Healing, Teaching and Learning. The amendment was championed by Senator Nick Collins, along with Senators Jamie Eldridge, Liz Miranda, Patrick O’Connor and Pavel Payano.

In the legislature, State Representative Chris Worrell successfully championed $500,000 in the House FY2025 appropriations bill. He also led the charge for $2.5 million in the House Economic Development Bond bill for the new Center and for operating funds. The co-sponsors were State Representatives John Francis Moran, Michelle M. DuBois, Marcus S. Vaughn, William F. MacGregor, Marjorie C. Decker, Mike Connolly, Sean Garballey, Colleen M. Garry and Kay Khan.

On June 26th, The Boston City Council, under the leadership of Council President Ruthzee Louijeune and Councilor Brian Worrell, voted to provide $650,000 to the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute for survivor services and burial funding.

“We thank our state and municipal champions for supporting the critical work of responding to Massachusetts families of homicide victims,” said Chaplain Clementina Chéry, president and CEO of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute. “These developments have brought the new Center that much closer to reality.”

“We are grateful to our elected officials for their leadership and courage,” said Rachel Rodrigues, Co-Executive Director of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute. “It has taken three decades for our organization to achieve this level of engagement and responsiveness from our elected leaders.”

“We recognize the struggle that many community-embedded, minority-led nonprofits often face in being heard and taken seriously by policy decision-makers,” added Alexandra Dorrelus, Co-Executive Director of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute. “We are committed to working with our colleagues across the Commonwealth to make these kinds of successes the norm rather than the exception.”

Funds from the Massachusetts Economic Development Bond bill will support construction of the three-story Center of Healing, Teaching and Learning at 30 Westville Street in Dorchester. The project was officially endorsed by the Boston Zoning Board of Appeal last month.

Funds from the State’s General Appropriations budget and City of Boston’s FY2025 budget will support the programs and services of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, including the Rest In Peace Fund, which ensures families can bury their loved ones with dignity and compassion, and the Live In Peace Fund, which supports families’ practical and emotional needs after their loved one has been murdered.

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About The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute is a center of Healing, Teaching and Learning for families and communities impacted by murder, trauma, grief and loss. An integral partner with the City of Boston for 30 years, we offer resources for families seeking support and training to providers on best practices in homicide response. Learn more at LDBpeaceinstitute.org.

Contact:

Luis Antonio Thompson, Luisantonio@LDBpeaceinstitute.org

Rendering courtesy Utile Architecture & Planning

June 27, 2024

Boston, MA — The Boston Zoning Board of Appeal approved plans by the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute (“the Peace Institute”) for a three-story Center of Healing, Teaching and Learning at 30 Westville St. in Dorchester. 

President and CEO Chaplain Clementina Chéry co-founded the Peace Institute in 1994 after the murder of her son, Louis D. Brown, gunned down in the crossfire of a gang shootout in December 1993.

“We are grateful to the Zoning Board of Appeal for approving our plans to build a new Center of Healing, Teaching and Learning,” said Alexandra Dorrelus and Rachel Rodrigues, Co-Executive Directors of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute. “As we celebrate our 30th year of existence, we look forward to scaling our programs, investing in our team, growing our organizational capacity and leading the movement for peace, right in the heart of Dorchester.”

The project will be funded through the Peace Institute’s Campaign for Peace, a $25 million fundraising initiative led by Co-Chairs Denella Clark, Dr. Keith Motley, Dr. Peter Masiakos and Rick Shea. Investments in the Campaign for Peace will:

• Ensure the Peace Institute can equitably, effectively and sustainably serve every survivor
• Expand the work of Generation Peace, its youth-centered programs and services
• Accelerate expansion of the Community Re-Entry Services Program, in support of men returning from incarceration to their families
• Fund training and education on homicide response, violence prevention and peacebuilding

“Families of murdered victims have a unique understanding of how violence impacts individuals, families and communities,” said Chaplain Chéry. “This is an important milestone toward our vision to create and sustain an environment where families can live in peace and all people are valued.”

“The United Neighborhood Association fully supports building the Center of Healing, Teaching and Learning on Westville Street,” said Theresa Latson, president of United Neighborhood Association. “It will provide an important space for healing in our community. We are eager for this project to be completed.”

The new site is designed to lead visitors through a “pathway of decompression” from Westville Street into the 20,000-square-foot, three-story building, which will feature meeting, meditation and healing spaces, classrooms, offices and an auditorium. Learn more at LDBpeaceinstitute.org/campaign. 

 Aerial view of 30 Westville Street and surrounding neighborhood. Photo by Luis Antonio Thompson.

Rendering courtesy Utile Architecture & Planning

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About The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute is a center of Healing, Teaching and Learning for families and communities impacted by murder, trauma, grief and loss. An integral partner with the City of Boston for 30 years, we offer resources for families seeking support and training to providers on best practices in homicide response. Learn more at LDBpeaceinstitute.org.

Contact:

Luis Antonio Thompson, Luisantonio@LDBpeaceinstitute.org

Taylor Lee, Taylor@LDBpeaceinstitute.org 

May 23, 2024

BOSTON, MA – This week, the Massachusetts Senate continues to deliberate through the FY2025 state budget amendments that have been filed in the Senate. As amendments are adopted, rejected, bundled and withdrawn, a disproportionate obstacle is presented for communities of color in the Commonwealth.

Consistent with years past, Black-led organizations such as the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute (LDBPI) disproportionately face obstacles when advocating for their annual funding from the state. A simple review of withdrawn and rejected amendments in Health and Human Services and Economic Development bears this out. BECMA, MIRA, Justice 4 Housing, and the New Commonwealth Fund are but a few of organizations led by people of color that were overlooked in the Senate budget debate. In the coming fiscal year, the LDBPI needs $6 million to provide its essential services statewide. They anticipate, based on 30 years of service to the people of Massachusetts, meeting this need calls for a minimum of $600,000 allocated to the LDBPI’s earmark in the state operating budget. 

This past January, Governor Maura Healey released her proposed budget for FY2025. The LDBPI was surprised and disappointed to see that Governor Healey proposed cutting funding for survivors of homicide victims by one-third. Maura Healey has long been a champion for victims’ rights, and has said repeatedly that the work that the LDBPI does is integral to the state’s homicide response and violence prevention policies. 

Earlier this month, the LDBPI worked collaboratively with State Representative Chris Worrell (5th Suffolk) to amend the Governor’s budget and secure $600,000 in the House of Representatives to support services provided to communities impacted murder, trauma, grief and loss. Senator Nick Collins (First Suffolk), filed an amendment in the Senate consistent with what passed through the House. Despite its bipartisan support, the amendment was rejected by the Senate. 

These roadblocks in the Senate are not new territory for Black-led organizations that annually seek funding through the state, nor for communities of color statewide that rely on state funding to sustain essential services. For the LDBPI, they understand that homicides, suicides and overdose death are still occurring across Massachusetts, and the number of survivors grow exponentially year after year. And although the case is made for a need for a greater statewide investment in violence prevention and response, organizations like the LDBPI will continue to tirelessly advocate for what is only 0.00001% of the state’s $58 billion operating budget.  

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About the Louis D. Brown Peace InstituteThe Louis D. Brown Peace Institute (LDBPI) is a center of Healing, Teaching and Learning for families and communities impacted by murder, trauma, grief and loss. For 30 years, the LDBPI has served as an integral partner to the City of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and has developed best practices in serving families and communities impacted by murder, trauma, grief and loss statewide. The LDBPI offers resources to families seeking support, and training to providers on best practices in the field of homicide response. Learn more at www.LDBpeaceinstitute.org.

Contact:

Luis Antonio Thompson, Luisantonio@LDBpeaceinstitute.org

Taylor Lee, Taylor@LDBpeaceinstitute.org 

STOUGHTON, MA – The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute (LDBPI), long-known as the standard-
bearer for homicide response and a center of healing, teaching, and learning for survivor
families throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is proud to announce its most recent
partnership with Team Pollard Boxing Club in Stoughton.

Team Pollard Boxing Club was founded by undefeated professional boxer Julian Pollard, who
competed from 2009 to 2015 and remains the reigning BKB Heavyweight World Champion
since winning the title at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas in 2015. Pollard is from Brockton, the “City
of Champions”.

Of this unique partnership, Pollard said, “I’m proud to put my skills and training to work to help
survivors become stronger physically and emotionally. It’s an honor to work with the LDBPI
team to make this partnership a reality.”

How this training can help survivors in their healing journeys: What the team at LDBPI has
learned in their own years of serving survivors is that there is no single approach that works for
everyone. Each person’s loss is unique; the same is true for their healing journey. For this
reason, it is crucial to offer a variety of techniques and options for folks to “try on” and discover
what is most effective for them.

LDBPI founder and CEO Clementina Chéry reflected on the beginning of her own healing
journey in 1993 and said, “We have learned so much in the years since Louis’ death about what
people really need when a loved one’s life has been taken. It’s so complex and painful, but at
its core, what people need is love, compassion, and room to heal. That is why we are grateful
to Mr. Pollard for sharing his knowledge and skills to help survivors practice self-care, which is
critical to healing.”

We know that exercise bestows physical benefits such as improving blood flow, strength, and
stamina. In addition, survivors may see that participation in sessions such as Team Pollard
training programs also offers these important health benefits:

1. Relieves stress
2. Fosters resilience & self-awareness
3. Improves emotional balance
4. Offers overall mood-boosting stimulation to support trauma-relief
   
   What’s the offer?
   Any survivor who would like to try Team Pollard’s program will be sponsored by the LDBPI for
   their first month of the “BOXFIT 2 Rounds” package, which is 2 classes per week for one hour
   each. The cost of this package is normally $99 monthly but with the LDBPI partnership, the
   survivor will get 20% off, so $79.20 monthly as long as they’re referred directly from the LDBPI.
   
   If after the first month a survivor wants to continue with Team Pollard, they still receive the
   20% discount, but will pick up the remaining cost of the membership from there. They may opt
   to continue with the same package, upgrade, or even downgrade; they’re eligible to receive
   20% off each month on whichever package they utilize for as long as this partnership exists.
   
   About the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute: The LDBPI’s mission is to serve as a center of
   Healing, Teaching, and Learning for families and communities impacted by murder, trauma,
   grief, and loss. They have been an integral partner to the City of Boston and have developed
   best practices in serving families and communities impacted by murder for 28 years. They offer
   resources to families seeking support and train providers on best practices in the field of
   homicide response. Learn more at https://www.LDBpeaceinstitute.org/
   
   About Team Pollard Boxing Club: Team Pollard Boxing Club’s classes are meant to challenge
   you in an effort to give you the results you’re looking for. Our programs are designed to
   simulate a real fight camp, starting with the basics of building strength, posture, and mobility –
   to building a physique that will give you tone, definition, speed, and power. Learn more at
   https://www.teampollard.com/