Welcome Rhonda Wagner

Rhonda has joined HPCAV as our first Assistant Executive Director. She is responsible for helping us build capacity around employment. Rhonda has years of experience as a Work First Employment and Community Engagement Specialist in Davidson County. In that role, she also coordinated Davidson County’s Business Advisory Council. She volunteered with Project Safe Neighborhood and the Domestic Violence Intervention Program so she is well acquainted with the mission of HPCAV.

Rhonda will also be heavily involved in our work with other youth service providers as we move our focus into prevention and intervention in violence by youth ages 24 and under. The hope is to improve High Point’s capacity to engage and encourage all of our young people toward a life of purpose and non-violence.

Rhonda is married to Byron and they have an adult daughter, Kayla. They live in Lexington.

We’re excited to take another step forward in making High Point a safer place for everyone.

Welcome Robert Martin

We’re excited about the new year and our new Executive Director: Robert Martin. Robert is probably best known to his friends as a rabid Appalachian State fan (he’s a graduate). To HPCAV, he’s known as one of our founding members.

Robert was employed as a Community Corrections Officer (adult probation and parole) with the NC Department of Public Safety from 1989 to 2017.  He began working in Guilford County. When High Point Regional Hospital (now Atrium Health Wake Forest) completed a needs assessment in the mid-1990’s, Robert joined the task force looking at and working to address violence. Officially representing the county’s Community Corrections office, Robert was a part of the creation of High Point Community Against Violence, Inc. and an active part of the implementation of focused deterrence here.

Robert spent the last nine years of his career in Davidson County and retired from NCDPS in 2017. He was hired as the Project Safe Neighborhoods Coordinator for Davidson County, doing essentially the same work for our neighboring county as he had done as a volunteer with HPCAV. He remained a member of the HPCAV Executive Board and continued to work with us.

When Jim Summey submitted his resignation, Robert was the natural and best choice to be our next Executive Director. He resigned from our Board in November, 2022 and officially began his new position on January 1, 2023. Robert has already laid the groundwork to build on what has been a great partnership
with our police department and our community. He is looking forward to moving us towards
more work with youth, our new focus area. He is a supporter of EKG2, a promising educational program on guns and gang violence for seventh graders, and hopes to see it implemented here.

Robert is as dedicated to his high school, High Point Andrews, as he is to App State. He has been an active HPAHS volunteer and supporter. He is a long time Lions Club member and an active part of the local Fraternal Order of Police. He participates in the High Point Senior Games and you can see him at HPU basketball games.  He is truly dedicated to High Point and making it safer for everyone.
Join us in welcoming Robert to his new role with HPCAV!

Jim Summey Retires

Jim Summey retired on December 31, 2022 after 13 years as High Point Community Against Violence, Inc.’s Executive Director.

Since the early 2000’s, Jim worked tirelessly to reduce violence and improve life for the residents of High Point.  He was a co-founder of West End Ministries, Inc. and Leslie’s House, both of which continue providing needed services to individuals and families. As a volunteer, he was willing to work side by side with the High Point Police Department and our very young organization to implement something new called focused deterrence. This strategy was used in the West End neighborhood to address the problem of open air drug sales. The effort was so successful it was repeated in other neighborhoods in town and then applied to other crime problems, such as robbery.

Jim was instrumental in that success and we hired him as our first Executive Director. In that role, Jim trained countless communities around our nation in what has been called the High Point Model of focused deterrence. He worked with federal, state and local law enforcement. He testified before Congress. He worked with researchers and reporters and students. Since 1998, the focused deterrence strategy has helped reduce High Point’s overall violent crime by 67%. Jim had a major role in the successful execution of this strategy in our city.

Locally, Jim led our organization through lots of new territory as we have grown in size and scope. Through stumbles and successes, the basis for all his work and ours has been the sign he kept on his desk that reads “Veritas“. He continues to pastor English Road Baptist Church, where you can hear him preach on any given Sunday morning.

In December, Jim was recognized with a Hometown Heroes Award from the NC Automobile Dealers Association, nominated by Tim Ilderton. It’s a fitting tribute for who he is and all that he has done.

While we’ll miss him at HPCAV, we’re excited about his plans to continue working for the good of all people in our city and county. He’s left HPCAV in good shape and in good hands. We’re grateful and look forward to building on that foundation of truth as we move into 2023.

Best wishes for many years of happiness and success in all you do, Jim!

Trunk or Treat a Success

HPCAV participated in our first Trunk or Treat at the Halloween Spooky Hoopla on Saturday, October 15 at the High Point Athletic Complex. Tim Ilderton of Ilderton Dodge loaned us a pickup truck to display our sign. Comfortable chairs, handouts and plenty of candy were all we needed to engage with everyone who stopped by. We ran out of candy, but not out of words! Working together, community partners and individuals, we can reduce violence in High Point.

Firearms by Felon Initiative

Crime Stoppers of High Point is beginning a new program that targets felons who are carrying illegal firearms. Anyone who reports information leading to the arrest of a felon in possession of a gun could earn $500. This effort is based on a successful program by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

Tips can be made by calling Crime Stoppers at 336-889-4000 or downloading the P3 Tips mobile
app. Tips are always anonymous.

It’s another way our residents can help law enforcement make High Point safer for everyone.

Dedicated HPU Student Benefits HPCAV

Meet Elise Coby, a junior at High Point University (HPU), pictured here with Gretta Bush, our Board President and Jim Summey, our Executive Director. Her Persuasive Speaking class required her to give a “Speech of Advocacy”. Realizing domestic/partner violence and violence in general were issues of concern to her, Elise researched local organizations and chose HPCAV as the subject for her speech project. She excelled in her presentation and was awarded first place. She took it a step further and created a crowd funding campaign, raising $765 for our organization.

Elise, we are very grateful for your support and your advocacy for HPCAV on campus and beyond!

Job Fair Coming Up

23 Year Look Back

The slow down and isolation of 2020 gave some of our volunteers the time to look back and catalogue what HPCAV has done and meant to our city and the people who live and work here. The end result of that reflection is “Building a Safer High Point.” It’s an easy read and will answer many of the questions you may have about what we do and why. And maybe it will inspire you to join us as we continue working to make High Point safer for everyone.

You choose: e-book or PDF.

Domestic Violence Strategy Gains National Attention

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence has invited the High Point Police Department to present information about our Offender Focused Domestic Violence Initiative (DVI) that was begun in 2012 at its national conference in September.  Based on the Violent Crime Focused Deterrence model, the DVI has helped reduce repeat domestic violence offenses in High Point.  Almost 3500 offenders have been “put on notice” over the past six years of implementation.   And while the program is not perfect – domestic violence continues to happen – it has made a difference, more than other strategies used in the past.

Read more about our DVI in this article from the Greensboro News and Record.

Good Things Going Around

On September 24, 2015, the following article was published in the High Point Enterprise, written by the president of the High Point Community Foundation.  As a result, one of our clients came in and made a $100 donation to our organization.  He explained that he had read the article, thought about it and wanted to give back. We are grateful to both of them!

Giving 101: Best Deal in Town

There has been a seismic shift in the philanthropic landscape over the past ten years that I, coming from a corporate background, have enthusiastically embraced. It’s called “venture philanthropy,” and it is based upon the belief that charitable gifts should be made with the same expectation one might have investing in your own personal stock portfolio.
All nonprofit organizations should have a sound business plan, a means to measure success and a return on your investment. Obviously you won’t be getting a stock dividend, but what you should see, and be able to measure, is a tangible impact. What this philosophy introduces is accountability and it’s a promise that any organization you support should be able to provide.
Now, what if I told you that there is a nonprofit in our community who can promise you multiple million dollar dividends for your investment? Would you be interested in giving to an organization that provides this kind of returns? The organization I am talking about is High Point Community against Violence (HPCAV) and it may be the best “bang for your buck” in our city. HPCAV was established years ago by a group of ordinary citizens who partnered with our High Point Police Department in an effort to make their community a more safe and productive environment to live, raise a family and run a business.
Since its inception, they have been identifying and “calling out” serious offenders, offering them a chance to mend their ways and, if they choose not to, sending them on long-term stints in federal prison. They are proactive in working with those recently released from prison by helping them with housing, food and job training, to acclimate them to society and keep them from reoffending.
Most recently, HPCAV has started using a similar format to address domestic violence, which is not only more prevalent in this community than one would think, but also presents the highest risk to our police officers who respond to the calls. The key to their success in both of these formats is that the focus is rightfully directed upon the offender and they use the power of the courts to leverage reform or remove the offenders from the community.
High Point Police Chief Marty Sumner not only endorses HPCAV, he can show you that this organization saves our High Point well over $14 million a year. It truly is the best deal in town, yet they have always struggled to raise money for their minimal budget. The Rev. Jim Summey, HPCAV’s executive director, is paid by the City of High Point and their annual budget is less than $100,000 a year.
Every citizen, and certainly all of our local businesses, should be contributing to HPCAV annually. This program, which has been nationally and internationally recognized, deserves our admiration and financial support. I encourage each of you who read this article to consider just how much it is worth to you and your family to have a community that is safe from crime. There some things in life we do simply because they are right, true and just. HPCAV is one of these and if you would like to support them send your checks to High Point Community against Violence, 792 N. Main Street, High Point, NC 27262.
PAUL LESSARD, a recipient of the Carnegie Hero Medal and a catalyst for the growth of community outreach programs, is president of the High Point Community Foundation.