Governor announces $5.1M in antiviolence grants

By Brian Ballou, Globe Staff

Governor Deval Patrick announced today that $5.1 million in antiviolence grants will be distributed to organizations throughout the state working to curb crime and violence.

Patrick made the announcement at the Samuel Adams Elementary School in East Boston as students performed in a concert to celebrate the school's involvement in a program aimed at building social skills to help children avert potentially violent situations and helping them heal from trauma.

"The violence that we are seeing on our streets must end, and we know that it will take more than law enforcement to create a lasting peace," Patrick said in a statement. "These grants underscore our belief that violence is both a public safety problem and a public health problem."

The state Department of Public Health will award $1.6 million; another $3.5 million will come from a federal grant.

Boston-based organizations will receive a total of about $1.7 million. The Old Colony YMCA in Brockton received the largest grant, $170,000.

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