Independent Variable is proud to partner with EMIR Healing Center to launch their new Healing Resources Dashboard, a powerful digital tool that combines Philadelphia gun violence data with community healing resources. Built in Microsoft Power BI, this interactive data dashboard empowers residents, advocates, and policymakers to: 1) better understand the impact of violence, and 2) connect those who have been impacted with services that promote healing.
Explore the Healing Resource Dashboard
A DIFFERENT WAY TO MODEL PUBLIC GUN VIOLENCE DATA
Gun violence is one of the most urgent public health crises facing Philadelphia. Too often, however, our attempts at analyzing gun violence data do not provide an actionable picture to those working towards on the ground solutions. This is because incidents of gun violence have causes and effects tied not only to their direct victims, but also to families, neighborhoods, and the larger city infrastructure. This means that dashboards built to inform community violence intervention (CVI) strategies must move beyond displaying dot-on-map shooting incident data to consider numerous factors related to the deployment of community resources, including:
Factors to consider
- The areas of a city that experience the most trauma
- Where resources currently exist to address this trauma
- How healing resources could be most appropriately allocated
These factors were the inspiration for the Healing Resources Dashboard. This project takes a resource guide developed by EMIR Healing Center and creates an interactive dashboard tool to help facilitate the delivery of community violence intervention strategies and trauma-informed care. It is our hope that this tool can be utilized in the effort to build safer, healthier communities across the City of Philadelphia.
Features of the Healing Resource Dashboard
The Healing Resource Dashboard includes two main tools:
1. Mapping trauma across Philadelphia neighborhoods
The Trauma Map provides an interactive visualization of gun violence incidents in Philadelphia since 2022. Users can explore the data by:
- Date of Incident – track when violence occurs.
- Neighborhood & Region – see which areas of the city are most affected.
- Incident Details – view incident-level data to help inform individual outreach (including fatal vs. non-fatal outcomes, injury details, time of day, and victim demographics).
Addressing gun violence one neighborhood at a time
The purpose of this tool is to provide community members, victim services agencies, social service nonprofits, and Community Violence Intervention (CVI) professionals with the information needed to respond effectively to every individual incident of gun violence. Policy makers may also use this tool to explore where broader, place-based anti-violence strategies may be most effectively deployed.
Instead of simply presenting raw numbers, the Trauma Map allows users to filter shooting incidents by date, neighborhood, or broader Philadelphia region, revealing key geographic trends that may otherwise remain hidden. Each data point on the map is supported by a detailed table outlining whether a shooting incident was fatal or non-fatal, as well as key demographic information to aid in planning outreach and support.
a shift towards responsive sUPPORTS
By allowing users to explore both 1) broader geographic trends, and 2) incident-level data, the Trauma Map provides a macro-level picture of how trauma is distributed across the city, as well as a micro, human-centered picture of resources needed for individual victims. This creates a valuable tool for policymakers, community advocates, and residents alike who are working to address violence at the individual, neighborhood, and citywide levels.
While the Trauma Map sheds light on the who and where of Philadelphia gun violence, the Healing Resources Map shifts the focus towards responsive supports—highlighting the community organizations and services providing pathways to healing.
2. The Healing Resources Map
The Healing Resources Map offers an interactive snapshot of Philadelphia community resources that can help individuals, families, and neighborhoods begin healing from the trauma of gun violence. For ease of use, the resources mapped are grouped by the following categories:
- Community Health Centers
- Crisis Response Centers
- Education Programs
- Employment Services
- Housing Supports
- Victim Services
How interactive maps can empower connection
A community-centered response to gun violence rarely occurs behind a desk with printed resources packets nearby. As such, tools aiming to connect residents to healing resources need to be mobile, interactive, and freely accessible.
The Healing Resources Map has been built for both desktop and mobile viewing, and allows users to search for services by broader geographic region, neighborhood, or resource type to quickly find the most appropriate support. Each resource listing provides clear and practical details—including the organization’s name, address, and phone number—so community members can easily identify which services best match their needs and reach out directly.
Interactive mapping with accessible support systems
Importantly, these healing resources are layered atop a heat map showing the Philadelphia neighborhoods accounting for the most incidents of gun violence—a critical innovation allowing policymakers and social service leaders alike to examine if supports are strategically distributed in the places they are most needed. Of note, this map does not include all resources in the City of Philadelphia, but those that have been identified by the team at EMIR Healing Center; as more resources are added, the tool will only grow more powerful.
By combining interactive mapping with accessible contact information curated by a trusted community partner, the dashboard helps reduce the barriers individuals and families often face when attempting to navigate support systems.
About EMIR Healing Center
EMIR Healing Center is a nonprofit organization leading a movement to provide healing to all Philadelphia community members impacted by grief and trauma. Through training, education, victim advocacy, and trauma-informed care, the organization is a trusted community partner on all levels of the fight against gun violence.
EMIR’s vision for The Healing Resources Dashboard is a natural extension of the organization’s collaborative and data-informed approach to promoting healing across the City of Philadelphia.
Independent Variable: Technology for Social Innovation
At Independent Variable, we have developed numerous Community Violence Intervention (CVI) software and data solutions , supporting the missions of nonprofits, Collectives, justice reform organizations, and municipal governments. From workflow management software to interactive dashboards, we strive to find new ways to help those fighting to reduce the harms of gun violence use technology to transform complex data into actionable strategies for social innovation.
The Healing Resources Dashboard reflects our commitment to partnering with nonprofit organizations to build custom data management and visualization tools to maximize their broader impact.
Explore the Healing Resource Dashboard
The Healing Resources Dashboard is a great example of what can happen when organizations collaborate to develop and release freely accessible technology to drive social impact.
To explore the Healing Resources Dashboard, click the link below: