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Detroit Friends and Family is doing something quietly revolutionary in a city plagued by disenfranchisement: they are putting a smile on the faces of people who are tired of broken promises and red and blue lights, doing their part in the violence epidemic with familiarity instead of fear.
A locally grown community violence intervention organization, Detroit Friends and Family has quickly become one of Detroit’s most respected community violence intervention groups, operating one of six violence prevention zones as part of the city’s ShotStoppers program.
The numbers speak for themselves: thanks to more than 1,300 violence prevention zones across the city, there has been an 83% decrease in violent crime in Detroit from August to October 2024.
That is not a coincidence – it comes from hard, dedicated neighborhood outreach work.
The organization – founded and headed by Detroit native Ray Winans (a man with experience on both sides of the system) – does what law enforcement, policy, and the courts often can’t: it transforms on a street level, partaking in everything from jail visits to mediation between rival gangs, post-shooting responses, and intervention with youth on the brink.
Unlike bureaucratic programs, Detroit Friends and Family doesn’t wait for someone to come through a door – they go find them first, mentoring young men at risk for gun violence and building trust that institutions can’t buy.
Their model is based on safe surrender – people with outstanding warrants or ongoing conflicts turning themselves in with dignity, accompanied by messengers who advocate for de-escalation and support services.
This can happen in courtrooms, county jails, or even on front porches.
Anytime life is about to go sideways, Detroit Family and Friends tries to step in, delivering programming on conflict resolution, trauma, masculinity, and healing.
“We are not here to scare you straight,” Winans often says. “We want to love you whole.”
On top of that, the group partners with other ShotStoppers CVI organizations like the People’s Action and New Era Detroit, as well as faith-based groups on the East Side, working with city officials to restore peace to the streets, in city code, and in struggling households.
While other groups chase headlines, Detroit Friends and Family creates legacy, preventing funerals before they ever happen and helping kids stay home instead of getting locked up.
In a city where decades of top-down “solutions” have failed, Detroit Friends and Family shows that bottom-up healing can work – when done by people who know your name, your mother, and your worth.