Sal Monteiro Jr. is flanked by U.S. Representatives Patrick Kennedy, right, and James Langevin, left, at yesterday’s announcement of a $352,000 federal grant for the Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence.

The Providence Journal / Mary Murphy

PROVIDENCE — Sal Monteiro Jr., a streetworker at the Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence, had a simple message yesterday for the bankers, educators, police officers, politicians and social workers who gathered at the South Side Recreation Center.

“Nonviolence is not for cowards,” he said. “It’s for courageous people. We are a small group, but we are committed.”

Monteiro was one of several speakers at yesterday’s announcement that the nonprofit agency had received $352,000 in federal appropriations to continue its battle against gang violence and help troubled youth in some of the city’s worst neighborhoods.

U.S. Representatives Patrick Kennedy and James Langevin were both on hand to praise the institute and the streetworkers.

Kennedy said it costs taxpayers $55 billion annually to lock up criminals in federal, state and local prisons and jails. He said the Institute for the Study & Practice of Nonviolence is an example of a worthwhile and inexpensive alternative.

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” said Kennedy, noting that it costs $90,000 to jail a juvenile in Rhode Island for a year. “We do so little in our country to promote programs like the one we have in our backyard.”

The institute was formed six years ago with a $30,000 budget and a handful of part-time workers. Last year, the agency had a $1.3-million budget that included about a dozen full- and part-time streetworkers and eight other staff members.

The staff and streetworkers work out of office space in the St. Michael Church rectory in the South Side.

The streetworkers are former gang members, many of whom have criminal records, who mediate disputes and try to persuade teenagers to stay out of gangs. They make daily visits to the city’s public schools, talk to gang members and visit victims of shootings and stabbings at local hospitals.

They are on call 24 hours a day.

Teny Gross, the institute’s executive director, said that the Streetworkers Program is the only one in the country that does not receive state or city funding. Instead, it is dependent on grants and private donations.

Gross said that the federal grant money couldn’t come soon enough. He said that the poor economy, foreclosures on homes and budget cuts have created “the perfect storm” for a violent summer.

“The poor need us most when the times are tough,” he said. “The poor need us now.”

A few months ago, Gross and two of the streetworkers traveled to Northern Ireland to work with youths in Belfast. Streetworkers also have testified before Congress about gang violence and two weeks ago the city of Los Angeles called the institute seeking advice for its outreach workers.

There are an estimated 39,000 gang members in the greater Los Angeles area. In Providence, the police have identified about 1,400 gang members and associate gang members.

Langevin said that other cities should follow the lead of the Providence institute.

“It is clearly a program that speaks for itself in terms of success,” the congressman said. “It’s a model program that should be emulated,” elsewhere.

Deputy Police Chief Paul J. Kennedy credited the institute and the streetworkers for the reduction in murders and violent crime in the city.

According to the Providence police, there were about 4,000 fewer crime victims last year than there were in 2002. Ongoing gun battles between rival gangs were responsible for 12 of the city’s 59 shootings last year.

Kennedy said that the department welcomes the help and knowledge that the streetworkers bring.

“We recognize that we need to invest in our children, not arrest them,” he said. “We need to reach more people.”

bmalinow@projo.com