Our Story

The Reverence Project, founded in 2014, is rooted in a history of violence intervention and prevention. Our founder, Aqeela Sherrills was instrumental in the creation of the 1992 Peace Treaty between the Bloods and Crips of the housing projects in the Watts community. 

The result of impacting one of the longest-

running street wars the nation has ever seen,

was uncovering the lack of support and healing

services for the untreated trauma, PTSD and 

hyper-vigilance of those who had been victims 

of the war. In the face of personal tragedies, the

work of the Reverence Project shifted to focus

primarily toward providing direct healing 

services to survivors of crime and building a 

community-based public safety strategy. 

As one of the founding members of the largest

network of survivors of crime, Crime Survivors

for Safety and Justice, TRP has been at the 

helm of some groundbreaking victories which 

include successfully advocating for the creation 

of 13 Trauma Recovery Centers across the 

nation. Additionally, TRP published the first report to research what victims of crime wanted in their healing process and California Governor's Office of Emergency Services awarded us a grant to provide services to self-identified victims and survivors of crime. 

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In Aqeela Sherrills' moving and brutally honest TedTalk of personal transformation and his work advancing sustainable peace efforts in urban war zones, he speaks of the need for a new movement. He envisions a Reverence Movement, where love becomes a practice instead of an ideal, where vulnerability and humility become strengths not weaknesses.

 

The Reverence Project’s commitment to serving self-identified survivors of crime aligns with a broader coordinated effort for social and economic equity, as many of the survivors we serve have traditionally been untreated. TRP has been a thought leader in the effort to change the narrative on who is defined as a survivor of crime and who’s healing deserves investment. The Reverence Project’s effort has touched over 500 individuals and provided innovative services to nearly 300 under-served survivors of crime.

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We are a multicultural organization with a racial justice lens committed to building a culturally sensitive approach to the issues our community faces. Our organization is proud that our hiring processes and board members reflect the community we serve.