We are again mourning the loss of life in our city. Once more, we are confronted with the reality that violence in Topeka is not an isolated event. It is a pattern. These moments force us to ask hard questions. They should disturb us. They should unsettle us. And they should push us to look deeper than the headlines to understand the conditions that make our community vulnerable to repeated acts of harm.

Violence does not appear out of thin air. It grows in the cracks of unmet needs, chronic stress, and rising anxiety. And if we want different outcomes, we must be willing to measure, fund, and design our community programs differently.

Anxiety, Unmet Needs, and the Path to Violence

Research across neuroscience, psychology, and public health shows a clear relationship between anxiety and behavior.

As anxiety rises, motivation falls.

As anxiety rises, performance falls.

As anxiety rises, decision-making and self-regulation fall.

Anxiety is tied to five universal human needs: security, community, clarity, authority, and dignity.

When these needs go unmet, people experience five universal fears: the fear of death, the fear of the outsider, the fear of the future, the fear of chaos, and the fear of insignificance.

When a community is living under instability, food insecurity, housing stress, lack of belonging, or untreated mental health concerns, these fears intensify. The emotional and neurological systems that regulate anxiety are the same systems that regulate aggression, impulse control, and violence.

This means violence is not random. Violence is a predictable outcome of conditions we can measure and change.

We Invest More in Treatment Than Prevention

This is not only a Topeka issue. It is a national pattern.

The national guidance on the use of opioid settlement funds warns that too many dollars across the country have gone toward treatment and crisis response rather than primary prevention. It calls for a major shift toward addressing upstream conditions like housing stability, food security, mental health access, youth connection, and meaningful community belonging.

And it is important to be clear: some of our funding must go into treatment and crisis management. Treatment saves lives in the moment. Crisis intervention keeps families together, helps people survive their worst days, and gives communities the ability to respond with compassion and urgency. But we cannot place all of our eggs in one basket. Without strong investments in prevention, the demand for treatment will only grow. Without prevention, every year becomes a repeat of the last. We need a balanced approach that honors the necessity of treatment while recognizing that only prevention can shrink the size of the crisis itself.

Kansas statewide substance use assessment work by the Center for Public Partnerships and Research points to the same gaps: rising anxiety, unmet basic needs, growing trauma exposure, housing instability, food insecurity, and a lack of coordinated prevention systems across counties.

We cannot treat our way out of a prevention problem.

What SENT Does and What SENT Does Not Do

SENT invests in the long-term stability of neighborhoods through:

Permanent affordable housing
Community-based development
Case management
Youth engagement
School-based prevention
Food as medicine
Workforce training
Mental health supports

SENT does not operate temporary housing, emergency shelter, or short-term crisis programs. Our mission is rooted in prevention, dignity, and long-range transformation. Prevention is intentional. Prevention is structural. Prevention is not reaction. It is the slow, steady work that changes a neighborhood from the inside out.

We Are Not Alone in This Work

Topeka is home to several organizations that are also leaning into upstream solutions. CIVIC, the Community Inspired Violence Intervention Coalition, is applying a public health model to interrupt cycles of violence before they start. PARS is doing early intervention and substance use prevention with youth and families. Family Service and Guidance Center is providing mental health care that helps stabilize children and teens long before they reach a crisis point. Community Action strengthens family stability through housing and early childhood supports. Topeka Youth Project is giving young people real opportunities through job readiness and employment pathways that build hope. The Topeka Center for Peace and Justice advances restorative justice and community healing, helping people repair harm and rebuild belonging. These organizations demonstrate that Topeka has a growing ecosystem committed to addressing the root causes of instability. Their work reinforces the truth that safety and well-being are built through stability, opportunity, prevention, and connection.

We Must Measure What Truly Matters

Imagine if every local grant, policy, and initiative required us to measure:

Food security
Housing stability
Access to mental health care
Youth participation in positive activities
Community belonging and connection
Neighborhood stress and anxiety indicators
Protective factors, not only risk factors

These are the conditions that shape violence, education, maternal health, substance use, and long-term community well-being. If we want different outcomes, our measurements must reflect actual causes.

When we change what we measure, we change what we do.

When we change what we do, we change what we build.

When we change what we build, we change who we become.

A Call for Topeka to Think Bigger

Violence in Topeka should break our hearts. But heartbreak alone will not change us. We need a commitment to prevention and a willingness to invest in the conditions that create safety, health, and stability.

We cannot depend solely on policymakers or crisis responders. They cannot stop what only a community can prevent.

We all have a role to play.

We must move away from blame and toward participation.

Away from reaction and toward prevention.

Away from fragmented effort and toward collective responsibility.

Topeka can be a place where families flourish, where youth thrive, where mental health is supported, where neighborhoods stabilize, and where violence becomes rare. But only if we choose to measure and fund the foundations that make safety possible.

SENT is committed to this work.

We invite our partners, funders, institutions, and neighbors to join us.