As an emergency physician at Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, Dr Rob. Gore sought to do more to help heal the victims of violence he treated on a routine basis. “Seeing a lot of the traumas that take place at work or in the neighborhood, you realize, I don’t want this to happen anymore. What do we do about it?”
In 2009, he started a nonprofit called the Kings Against Violence Initiative (KAVI) that has funded anti-violence programs in the hospital, schools, and broader community, serving over 250 young people to date. KAVI holds weekly workshops for students in three schools, teaching mediation and conflict resolution. The group also provides free mental health counseling for students who need one-on-one support. School administrators say the program has helped lower violence, raise grades, and help send graduates to college.
Here’s to all the doctors who go beyond caring for their patients – they are also healing communities.
