ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — This week on Empire State Weekly, as part of a state effort to reduce gun violence, additional funding has been given to grassroots community organizations.

Paul Collins-Hackett, the Executive Director of The Red Bookshelf, Eva Bass, the Executive Director of A Village Inc., and Lisa Good, the Director Of Urban Grief weighed in on the $2 million dollars in funding allocated from Project RISE (which stands for Respond, Invest, Sustain, and Empower).

“All of the effort and information is centered around, oh, we have to stop the shootings, we have to stop people from harming each other. And we disregard or minimize the role of trauma and the necessity of healing. And so when you have decades of harm that has taken place within communities, there’s a lot of trauma, and because of that, there are effects that come with that, and we really don’t tend to that part of it.” said Good.

The new school year is right around the corner. David Albert, the chief communications and marketing officer for the New York State School Boards Association, explained that many districts are taking steps to address the learning loss faced by some students after the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’ve also seen districts hire reading, math, and interventional teachers to help students who have fallen behind, so a lot of the federal dollars that schools have received have gone toward the learning gap… overcoming those learning gaps.” said Albert.

To see these interviews and more, here is a list of how you can watch Empire State Weekly in your area of New York: