He left gang life behind. Now Curtis Toler helps others find peace.
On a Monday morning in mid-June, Curtis Toler receives intel about an assassination plot. It’s a tip that a street gang plans to shoot an eighth grader at his graduation ceremony in Chicago’s Roseland neighborhood.
Mr. Toler, the director of outreach at Chicago CRED, a nonprofit whose mission is to reduce gun violence, immediately calls several colleagues. Mondays are usually a day off for his crew. It’s the weekends that they’re busiest – especially in summertime. That’s when gang-related shootings undergo a seasonal spike.
Sitting in a Chicago CRED office space, Mr. Toler holds up his phone to show what his email inbox looks like.
“You see this?” he says. “This is throughout the city. Person shot. Person shot. Person shot. Person
