Dear PHC Family, Partners, and Community,

As we continue with our work in 2026, I want to highlight our first ever symposium hosted with Montclair State University showcasing the data over the years from our program in order to measure our impact on the community.

This year reaffirmed what we already know to be true: community-led, relationship-based healing saves lives. Even amid funding uncertainty and growing need, the Paterson Healing Collective showed up with consistency, courage, and care. This would not have been possible without the collaborative efforts from our team, community partners and the community itself.

Our Impact: People, Not Just Programs

In 2026, PHC remained deeply engaged with individuals and neighborhoods most impacted by violence. Our work was not one-off or transactional; it was sustained, intentional, and rooted in trust.

• Paterson homicides declined from 27 in 2020 to 11 in 2024, a 59% reduction. Although homicides increased to 16 in 2025, they remained more than 40% below 2020 levels.
• Gunshot-related hospital admissions fell from 149 in 2021 to 46 in 2025, representing a 69% reduction.
• Summer shootings declined by 60% between 2023 and 2025, coinciding with PHC’s Summer Peace Challenge and youth engagement initiatives.
• PHC served 326 gunshot victims through its HVIP program.
• Only 5 participants experienced reinjury, resulting in a 1.5% reinjury rate, compared with national averages of 20–45%.

These outcomes are the result of consistent presence, credible messengers, trauma-informed case management, and a belief that people deserve support—not surveillance—during their most vulnerable moments.

Stabilizing Lives in Crisis

Since 2020, PHC has:

• Supported 722 individuals through case management and advocacy services.
• Assisted 478 direct victims of violence, including:
  • 326 gunshot victims
  • 75 stabbing victims
  • 45 assault victims
  • 32 domestic violence victims.

PHC provided over 16,700 documented client interactions, including:

• Housing advocacy
• Mental health support
• Employment assistance
• Transportation assistance
• Food support
• Victim compensation advocacy.

To Our Community and Participants, With Deepest Gratitude

Most of all, we thank our community and our participants.

Thank you for trusting us. Thank you for allowing us into your lives during moments of pain, fear, and uncertainty. Thank you for showing up with honesty, courage, and resilience. This work exists because of you—and it works because we heal together. Your strength, leadership, and belief in a different future guide everything we do.

To Our PHC Team

To our extraordinary PHC staff: thank you.

You carried this work with heart, professionalism, and resilience. You responded to crisis while building hope. You supported healing while preventing harm. I am endlessly proud of who we are as a team and the standard of care we bring to this field every day.

To Our Board

Thank you for continuing to be responsive and supportive to ensure that our organization succeeds.

To Our Hospital Partners

Thank you to our hospital partners for your trust, flexibility, and shared commitment to survivor-centered care. Because of you, healing begins at the bedside and continues in the community with continuity, dignity, and compassion. Ken and Dr. P, your leadership and wisdom are so appreciated by our team.

To Our Funders and Philanthropic Partners

We extend deep gratitude to RWJ, The Dodge Foundation, and Every town for Gun Safety. Your philanthropic investments have helped us build capacity in ways that state and federal funding often cannot, allowing us to be responsive, flexible, and truly survivor-centered.

Thank you as well to the VIVA Office for your continued partnership and belief in this work.

To Our Advocates, Allies, and Local Partners

Thank you to Moms Demand Action, NJ VIP, and the National Council of Jewish Women for your advocacy, donations, and unwavering support of community violence intervention.

We are also deeply grateful to Passaic County Probation, the Passaic County Youth Services Commission, and the Gun Violence Advisory Committee for their consistent local support of our programming and their collaboration in advancing community-based solutions to violence.

To our Passaic County nonprofit partners: your allyship and collaboration strengthen this ecosystem of care more than you know.

And to our local, state, and federal elected officials and legislators: thank you for your advocacy that has translated into real financial and legal support for this lifesaving work over the years.

With gratitude, hope, and determination,

Dr. Liza Chowdhury
Executive Director
Paterson Healing Collective