Greg Najee Grimes 212 Anchor Foundation

With aspirations to emerge as a regional cornerstone for gun violence amelioration, the Greg Najee Grimes 212 Anchor Foundation manifests a comprehensive approach to empowering other Survivors, investing resources in the community, educating future health professionals, advocating for community stakeholders, expanding health literacy, and saving lives.  

Our organization is intentionally centered on trauma-informed, evidence-based solutions to reverse the trajectory of gun violence.  We take bold initiatives to promote safety, resilience and vibrancy for the Greater Sacramento area.  As gun violence interrupters, our cause is clear. When our only child, Najee, lost his life to gun violence in a mass shooting on the Fourth of July 2022, the terror crystalized our mission for a clear-eyed response in the wake of gun violence as a health epidemic..  We are committed to stymieing gun violence; Every step along the way, we are empowering other community stakeholders to actively participate.

As African American Survivors, we recognize that the pervasiveness of gun violence is a multifacted and complex health crisis, particularly in communities of color. The gravity of social harm and the impacts to Survivors is enormous.  This reality informs our collaborative efforts with violence prevention advocates, public safety workers, health professionals, law enforcement, school districts, lawmakers, the faith community, local influencers, our Mayor and other non-profits.  While we are selective in terms of how we expend our energy, we are graciously cognizant of the need for co-destiny achievements in the fight to end senseless gun violence.  We are credible messengers and our engagement in these areas ultimately support Survivors.   It is a tragic bond.

Our foundation has opted not to allow the issue of firearm violence to go unaddressed.

We assert that for Sacramento, silence on a micro level is tantamount to complicity on the macro level.

We are different with regard to innovation.  We host an annual “LifeSavers Party,” and a Community Positivity Tailgate as effective solutions to ensure that people have an opportunity to play a pivotal role in reversing pervasive gun violence. We use evidence-based prevention trainings to build a sense of unity, while encouraging individual responsibility. Educating the public about firearm safety skills, emergency response to uncontrolled bleeding, preventing accidental death or injury, suicide by gun counseling techniques, de-escalation practices, responsible gun ownership and common sense public safety initiatives --- all contribute to positive outcomes in the trajectory of community health and gun violence prevention.

We also host Stop-the-Bleed events in lower socio-economic neighborhoods, as well as Active Shooter training available to all school districts, de-escalation training and we host gun-lock give-away events.

Our perspective is that through fostering a decrease in community trauma, we encourage higher levels of safety and resilience. By taking action to reduce trauma, we advocate healing

justice for a plethora of those who are impacted by intentional homicide, accidental gun violence and suicide by gun. Additionally, we empower bystanders and the community-at-large. We believe that the impetus for healing is community engagement, which is why we are heavily invested.

Amplifying the voices of survivors is also essential to addressing gun violence as a public health crisis. We see that our role is to change the narrative in the reduction of gun violence, by promoting a community-based participatory approach. Considering the participation of those who are affected by the outcomes of gun violence, our organization acknowledges the unique strengths and resources of stakeholders.

Working with legislators to introduce sustainable safety codes, we participate on an executive panel of 7, with Mayor Steinberg, the Nightime Economy Manager and City Administrators, in writing new public health operating procedures.  This effort stems from our insistence on “Najee’s Law,” which mandates walk-through metal detectors to ensure that guns are not carried into entertainment establishments.

212 degrees is the scientific boiling point.  When Najee played football for Boise State University, th e “212” philosophy was a campaign the Head Coach rolled out in his senior year.  Also, Najee had an “Anchor” tattoo with the words Mom and Dad on the flukes.  Thus, we named our foundation the Greg Najee Grimes 212 Anchor Foundation, to capture the essence of Najee’s lived experiences.  We bring to boil the breadth of our activities and aspirations, richly centered on life itself, as a value proposition.