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New resource packet encourages faith leaders to speak out against gun violence

June 24, 2016

Gun violence is the leading cause of mortality among young black men and the county needs to treat it as a public health issue, according to Dr. Karen Hacker, director of the Allegheny County Health Department.

“How do we help to prevent this?” Hacker asked. “And how do we help communities to heal because the impact of this kind of violence is really like post-traumatic stress in many of our communities.”

She found an ally in the local Christian community.

“We’re interested in getting these messages out in many different places and being able to connect with communities, and we really saw the faith based community as an incredible touchpoint,” Hacker said.

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