Apr. 12—HENDERSON — The City Council voted on Monday night to enter into an agreement with North Carolina Central University for a Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention grant.

Gun violence was a motivation in the Council's decision.

"[NCCU's] criminal justice department will be the applicant," said City Manager Terrell Blackmon, "and the City of Henderson would be one of three sub-recipients or co-applicants to the grant that would assist in supporting programming and services that will help with suppressing gun violence in our community."

Awards are expected to be announced in September this year.

The grant program, launched in 2020, provides federal dollars to government bodies for "multidisciplinary targeted violence and terrorism prevention capabilities in local communities, to pilot innovative prevention approaches, and to identify prevention best practices that can be replicated in communities across the country," per the DHS.

The program seems to work towards equity in its award of grant funding, focusing on small and mid-sized communities.

The DHS' Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships, founded in 2021 under President Joe Biden as a replacement of the Donald Trump-era Office for Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention, oversees the grant program.

Past grantees include Aurora, Colorado, the Children's Hospital Corporation, the University of Rhode Island and Cure Violence Global.