Busey to Support Investment for Impact in Champaign County

Committed to bettering the places where we live and work, Busey is joining other Champaign, IL area businesses and organizations to support Investment for Impact, an initiative in partnership with Victory over Violence.

Mirroring many communities across the U.S., over the past few years Champaign County has seen a rise in violent crime, especially among youth and young adults. Investment for Impact will provide an additional $300,000 allocated to the United Way of Champaign County towards Victory over Violence grants to address immediate solutions to violent crime, as well as long-term solutions to remedy the underlying factors and patterns that lead to future violent behavior. Together with Carle Health, Christie Clinic, OSF HealthCare, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the United Way, Busey contributed $50,000 to support proven strategies that work towards solutions to violence, building a brighter future and changing the statistics.

Through a variety of programs and services, Investment for Impact will give children—especially those from under-resourced neighborhoods or living in high-poverty conditions, the help they need and deserve. Fostering social connectedness and belonging among youth in the community is an integral part of disrupting the cycle of violence. The initiative will do this by supporting youth development programs, afterschool and summer programming that focuses on academics and attendance and programming that builds social-emotional persistence and intelligence. It will work to stop violence and promote safety through emphasizing enforcement, street-based violence interruption, trauma and emotional supports, family engagement and wrap-around supports.

Investment for Impact is inspired by and in partnership with Victory of Violence, a solutions-driven response to address violence organized by WCIA 3 and the United Way of Champaign County which began in the fall of 2021. Since the program launched, 12 programs have received $5,000 each for a total of $60,000 distributed in the community. Funded programs include Shop with a Cop, a program that fosters positive relationships between police officers, children and families; Goal Getters, a partnership with Unit 4 schools which provides academic and behavioral guidance and mentorship to high school students; the reward fund for Champaign County Crime Stoppers; and others.