In 2019, following a string of homicides and shootings where police officers opened fire, Rodney McIntosh said he first felt called to action.
“I just had a desire to be a voice for the people,” McIntosh said. “I went to City Hall, speaking on what I believed were injustices that were taking place in the inner city.”
After speaking about his past being involved in gangs while growing up in the Stop Six neighborhood of Fort Worth, he caught the attention of city council members and was soon tapped to launch and run a community-violence intervention program to stop gang and retaliatory violence in the city. In 2020, McIntosh signed a contract with the City of Fort Worth, and V.I.P. Fort Worth was born…