I hope that you are planning to join us at CCDO's national conference in Los Angeles on August 23–25, 2005. The conference will feature great guest speakers, opportunities to learn and share, and new partnership announcements. Nothing compares with face-to-face interaction, networking, and simple camaraderie, and it all leads to better ideas for better communities. Weed and Seed continues to be CCDO's flagship strategy and serves as our foundation. However, there is more to our office and we continue to reorganize and improve on our ways of assisting communities. Today, we enjoy solid partnerships with (1) many U.S. Attorneys' Offices, where we work on the public housing safety initiative; (2) the Internal Revenue Service, where we help people understand and use the earned income tax credit; and (3) the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, where we publicize and help train people in financial literacy programs. But those partnerships are just the beginning of many to come. In the future, look for partnerships with other federal agencies that will pair offender reentry with community volunteerism and expand asset-building initiatives within our Weed and Seed network. We continue to strive for better collaboration with Indian tribes. Most communities take for granted the legal infrastructure that makes economic development possible. Unfortunately, some Indian tribes have been unable to build such networks, and their absence impedes economic development opportunities. This fall, we intend to launch a pilot initiative to assist Indian tribes in developing that necessary legal infrastructure to encourage the development of communities' quality of life to foster economic growth. The initiative reflects on CCDO's mission to build local capacity to solve local issues and to be inclusive of all Americans. Your feedback is critical to our continued development and ability to serve you better. I listened to your recommendations on our Web site, and we have been working to make the Web site a place for you to want to go to often to find valuable information. Look for our new Web site at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ccdo soon. We continue to engage our advisory committee regarding their ideas on how to strengthen local community capacity. CCDO is providing staff support for the subcommittees working on the first three initiatives: peer-to-peer mentoring, development of local leadership, and communication strategies. I'd like to extend a formal welcome to our new Assistant Attorney General here at OJP, Regina Schofield. Before her appointment as Assistant Attorney General, Ms. Schofield was Director of the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs and White House Liaison at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. We are very excited to work with her and show her all the great successes of Weed and Seed. A sincere thank you goes to Tracy Henke for guiding us through the transition period. Enjoy your summer. I look forward to seeing you in the City of Angels. Sincerely, Nelson Hernandez |
