Philadelphia is hoping to change the way it fights gun violence by funding smaller community groups

When Philadelphia City Council members last month fought to include $68 million in new spending for violence prevention in this year’s budget, they weren’t just trying to boost the price tag of the city’s response to the record-setting pace of shootings. They were also trying to change the way the city doles out money to organizations working on the city’s priorities.

Council President Darrell L. Clarke and Mayor Jim Kenney on Wednesday unveiled the first detailed glimpse of that new way of doing business with the announcement of how Philadelphia will disburse about $20 million that lawmakers earmarked for community groups.