On Tuesday, Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring launched Greater Gilpin, a three-year initiative to engage residents of the Gilpin Court public housing community in crafting approaches to reduce gun violence and raise their life opportunities.

At a press conference at the Calhoun Center in Gilpin Court, Mr. Herring said a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community-Based Crime Reduction Program would fuel the initiative aimed at cutting crime and improving health, education and job prospects.

Most of the money would go to community projects, his office later stated, with only $187,000, or 18.7 percent of the grant, to be used for “law enforcement purposes, mostly overtime for additional community patrols.”

“Greater Gilpin is going to be unique,” he said, as it will “be a community-driven approach to strengthen a community that deserves a hand up. Instead of a top-down approach that tries to tell Gilpin what it needs, we’re going to bring together everyone who cares about this community and who has good ideas” to make the community a better place, he said.

Mr. Herring said partner organizations with RRHA would include the Richmond Police Department, the Carol Adams Foundation, STEP (Strategies to Elevate People) and ALO Community Strategy Consulting.

Christian Campbell, vice president of the Gilpin Court Tenant Council, was disappointed few residents attended the press conference. She said the initiative represents an opportunity for them “to help themselves” but she said that they will have to get involved if this effort is to usher in “real change.”

— JEREMY M. LAZARUS