Weed and Seed Partners Win National Awards
By Julia Ryan, Program Director, LISC Community Safety Initiative
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Three Weed and Seed sites recently received national recognition by winning the 2007 MetLife Foundation Community-Police Partnership Awards, which come with grants of $10,000 to $25,000. The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and MetLife Foundation announced the 11 winners of this award in July. The MetLife Foundation Community-Police Awards recognize community developers and police who have collaborated to reduce crime and spur housing development, economic activity, and improved community services in troubled neighborhoods.
Administered by LISC's Community Safety Initiative since 2002, the awards have provided technical assistance, training, and grant support to many Weed and Seed sites. The strategies championed by the awards closely align with the driving principles of Weed and Seed—namely, the integration of law enforcement and community-building efforts to achieve long-term neighborhood change. Over the past 6 years, Weed and Seed sites have been recognized in the awards each year. This year, three Weed and Seed affiliates—in Pittsburgh, PA; Aurora, CO; and Seattle, WA—were among the 11 winners chosen from more than 400 applicants by LISC and a panel of police chiefs and community development leaders.
The community organization Lawrenceville United (LU) and the Pittsburgh Police Department were recognized in the Neighborhood Revitalization category for significant achievements in reducing crime and engaging community members in a comprehensive effort to strengthen the economic and social fabric of the Lawrenceville neighborhood. The partners' multifaceted work included targeting enforcement and redevelopment efforts to improve problem properties, creating a block watch network, and maintaining a public safety newsletter to inform residents and engage them in taking back their streets. LU also was an important leader in rolling out the Weed and Seed strategy following site recognition by CCDO in 2006.
In a community where LU says more than half of the housing stock is in "substandard condition," LU staff, volunteers, and police partners work together to make landlords aware of community expectations and responsibilities. When needed, LU staff and volunteers initiate judicial hearings for property owners charged with housing code violations and testify at them. They also work with police, the Bureau of Building Inspection, the U.S. Attorney's Office, and housing development partners to prosecute negligent owners and secure problem properties for redevelopment into quality affordable housing and commercial space.
In Colorado, the Aurora Police Department and other partners of the East Aurora Weed and Seed site, working with the Original Aurora Renewal program (part of the city's Neighborhood Services Department), won a special MetLife Foundation Community-Police Partnership Award recognizing their Drug Market Disruption strategy. With input from more than 36 departments and organizations, the Aurora partners tackled entrenched narcotics activity in their neighborhood through targeted law enforcement operations, collaboration with local prosecutors to ensure appropriate sentencing, and efforts to engage youth, residents, and businesses in preventing drug crime. Efforts to abate the drug market were integrated with long-term revitalization plans, which included attracting artists and related economic development to the neighborhood and ensuring that enforcement solutions were backed up by sustainable neighborhood redevelopment supported by city agencies and area nonprofit organizations.
The Aurora partners also conducted safety trainings with property managers and sponsored bilingual drug prevention workshops for community members. As a result, over the past 3 years the rate of reported drug incidents in the Weed and Seed area dropped substantially while the citywide rate remained comparatively steady.
In Seattle, HomeSight, a housing-related nonprofit organization, and the Seattle Police Department were recognized for their "Curbing Crime, One Street at a Time" project, a strategic effort to reduce crime and improve perceptions of neighborhood safety in the Southeast Seattle Weed and Seed area. Strategies used include promoting infrastructure repair, conducting regular community cleanups, and installing local public art, all of which provide a constant reminder that people care for the neighborhood and will not tolerate disorder.
One project centered on redesigning a bus shelter that had faced away from the street, inadvertently creating a concealed space for drug sales and prostitution. The new shelter, decorated by local artists, opens onto the street instead of the sidewalk, where it can be easily monitored by motorists and police officers. Another effort sought to stop people from parking their cars on the sidewalk of a residential street and reduce the debris that accumulated in a streetside gulley. Installing new curbs on the street changed patterns and slowed down traffic, increasing physical safety for both pedestrians and motorists. The curbs have also reduced litter and bolstered residents' sense of pride and ownership. Residents have been so pleased that they have helped one of HomeSight's main partners raise funds so they can add curbs to the other side of the street in the next year.
LISC encourages Weed and Seed partners and other community organizations and police departments to apply for the MetLife Foundation Community-Police Partnership Awards. At least one lead applicant must be a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. LISC will release the request for proposals (RFP) for the next round of the awards in January 2008.
For more information or to be added to the RFP mailing list, contact:
Julia Ryan, Program Director
LISC Community Safety Initiative
