The C.L.A.E.R. Project Responds to the Elevated Level of Violence in Times of Recession

The C.L.A.E.R. Project
1099 Sunnydale Ave.
San Francisco, CA
415.333.3017

Media Release 4/8/09

*Sharen Hewitt, Executive Director 415-724-4794
*Lacrecia Gardner 415-595-1446
*Laurel Moeslein 707-696-7951



With Easter upon us the world should be rejoicing and enjoying the beautiful benefits of spring. However, the newspaper and the evening news remind us on a daily that the world is not rejoicing. Crime is rampant, and as the economy worsens crimes become more frequent, and more horrific.

The slain officers in Oakland, the murdered child in Tracy, and the hostages that lost their lives in New York, are all clear indicators that the stressors of a fledgling economy can be deadly.

We at The C.L.A.E.R. Project know how a lack of money, jobs, and support can affect the human condition. In a community where the average yearly income is less than 10,000 dollars, our clients are constantly fighting just to keep their heads above water. In a community already prone to violence, when the economy suffers, so do we.

Terry Anders, Program Director at Visitacion Valley JobNet poignantly said, “The answer to a gun is a job. Workforce development in the ONLY way to stop the killing.

How do we end the bloodshed? How can we stop these brutal acts of violence and hatred? The answer is simple. We need workforce development. We need victim’s assistance. We need relocation assistance people and families that have been the targets of violent crime. We need a disaster plan for public housing. We need more funding for supportive services, because the city and county are so strapped for cash that we are falling lower and lower on the totem pole. Above all, we need to respect our neighbors and ourselves. We will make our way out of this grim economic time. It’s up to us to make sure we make all it out in one piece.