VALOR develops women of color into successful community leaders, who will use their cultural values and organizing talents to build power in underrepresented neighborhoods. In turn, these newly empowered and responsive neighborhoods will dismantle the institutional biases and funding mechanisms that promote the predatory criminal justice system. VALOR neighborhoods fight for self-reliant restorati
ve justice solutions that make the use of force, arrest, detainment, fines, and imprisonment a matter of last resort - rather than first option - in order to have safe, respected, and healthy communities.
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Focus:
VALOR has trained 45 new Latina leaders who are building capacity and forming teams of volunteers that engage low income, neighborhoods of color across west Phoenix in three areas of focus - Police and Court Reform, Civic Participation, and Neighborhood Revitalization. Police and Court Reform: Educate the community, build culturally competent solutions, and advocate for policy that deconstructs the policies and systems of mass incarceration, policing for profit, and family separation. Civic Participation: Expand the definition of civic engagement beyond voter mobilization to include advocacy and further democratization of government. Neighborhood Revitalization: Community-driven programs and advocacy to encourage investment from government, community development corporations, and private partners that prevents crime and restores justice.
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Current Projects:
Block Watches: VALOR is working with several neighborhood block watches in the Maryvale community to make their neighborhoods safer. Our team of Block Watch Leaders host regular meetings with their neighbors to redefine safety in their communities. Promotoras de Justicia: VALOR is working with Justice That Works to train Community Educators on the criminal justice system and how it disproportionately affects our communities of color. Our team of Community Educators, or Promotoras, will host meetings in communities around Phoenix to teach others about the effects of the criminal justice system. At these meetings, participants will generate ideas on for increasing safety in their neighborhoods without relying on policing and the criminal justice system. These ideas will be presented to the Phoenix City Council as part of the Redefining Safety initiative.
