09-20-2007 New Weed & Seed grant highlights westside investment (2)

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the South and Sheridan Street on the west. The area includes the LaSalle Park, the Oliver Gateway and the Westside neighborhoods. The 10,000 residents of the target area are nearly evenly segmented among Hispanics, African-Americans and whites. The South Bend strategy is a collaboration of the city, the St. Joseph County Prosecutor's Office, the U.S. Department of Justice, the Weed & Seed Alliance and the South Bend Police Department. Since the strategy began in 2003, the Weed & Seed Alliance has been actively working on a strategy that will continue in force until Aug. 31, 2008. The Weed & Seed Strategy has four components: • Law enforcement. • Community policing. • Prevention, intervention and treatment. • Neighborhood restoration(which must be covered by sources other than the federal grant). For year five, South Bend's Weed & Seed is split evenly between weeding and seeding activities with additional resources devoted to program evaluation: • Weeding(law enforcement and community policing) • Overtime for extra police patrols. • A billboard contest for youth to promote positive community messages. • A graffiti-removal program. • Outreach activities for at-risk youth. • Seeding(prevention, intervention and treatment) • After-school programs at three neighborhood Safe Havens—Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church, 206 S. Falcon St.; LaCasa de Amistad, 746 S. Meade St.; and St. Adalbert's Catholic Church, 2420 Huron St. • GED program—Layman Chapel CME Church, 303 S. Kenmore St. Past activities have included such projects as Safe Neighborhoods, Anti-Gang Task Force, Community Policing, senior citizens security, VIP Patrols, Graffiti Removal, a youth soccer league and Neighborhood Restoration. When the funding period ends next summer, the Weed & Seed Alliance will evaluate progress and work on sustaining the strategy after the federal funds cease. "Receipt of another year of funding will allow us to continue to make progress in our strategy," said Mark Dollinger, South Bend's Weed & Seed coordinator. "We have over 250 youth participating in our after school and soccer programs, and we have developed strong relationships with neighborhood organizations. Our partnership with the City of South Bend and its commitment to the area has gone a long way to improve the area's neighborhoods." In 2004, the city, residents and other neighborhood stakeholders completed a Neighborhood Restoration Plan for the Weed & Seed area With local resources and federal Community Development Block Grant funds, the city has completed nearly $1.7 million in improvements according to the plan. In the program's first four years, there have been improvements to LaSalle and Pulaski parks, including fencing, a soccer field, facility renovation and the addition of bleachers. New curbs and sidewalks have been installed along Walnut Street, Kenmore Street,