NEWS INFORMATION FROM

THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED
City of Harrisburg
King City Government Center
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1678
Telephone: 717.255.3040

FOR IMMEDIATE USE
29 July 2003

PUBLIC MEETING SCHEDULED FOR TUESDAY, JULY 29 TO OUTLINE SUCCESS OF WEED & SEED PROGRAM EFFORTS

Harrisburg, PA—Mayor Stephen R. Reed today announced that a special public meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 29, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Rowland School Gymnasium at 19th and Derry Streets, to update local citizens on neighborhood improvement activities being conducted in conjunction with the city’s South Allison Hill-based Weed and Seed program.

The comprehensive effort, first begun in November of 2002, involves intensive law enforcement, anti-blight, social and other community development services to the targeted area of South Allison Hill bounded by Cameron, S. 18th, Market and Paxton Streets. The Weed and Seed program is a concerted partner- ship between all levels of government, the private and non-profit sectors, and citizens to reduce crime and restore neighborhood stability and growth. The ‘Weed’ component of the program provides intensive law enforcement focus in the targeted areas, while the ‘Seed’ aspect provides for long term community and neighborhood development and empowerment strategies and programs.

The Mayor said the ‘Weed’ effort has resulted in more than 100 arrests and the confiscation of over $70,000 in cash, drugs and other illicit materials, including large numbers of weapons. The law enforcement effort continues nightly in the program area, with city, state and county law enforcement agencies all participating.

Reed and officials from the Community Action Commission (CAC) say the meeting at the Rowland School will review what has occurred with the ‘Seed’ aspect of the program. Nearly 90 individuals have been working for months on six different committees formed by the CAC, with foci upon education, employment and economic development, health, law enforcement and public safety, children, youth and families, and housing and neighborhood development.

One of the highlights of the ‘Seed’ effort, said the Mayor, has been the tremendous participation of 22 neighborhood residents in a 2-year long leadership training program. Participants must attend six hours of training each month, where they are learning the various skills and tactics of successful community leadership and service. The participants will then serve as community organizers for various empowerment activities, such as forming crimewatch and adopt-a-block groups, and to serve as key liaisons on behalf of neighborhood residents to the project’s other participating entities.

The Mayor noted that the ‘Seed’ partners include the area’s community-based organizations, faith-based institutions, community, social and other service agencies from varying levels of government. Partners include the Community Action Commission, Tri-County Housing Development Association, Danzante Cultural Center, Program for Female Offenders, Discipleship Center, Mt. Pleasant Hispanic American Center, the Joshua Group, South Allison Hill Civic Association, Pride of the Neighborhood Academy, the Boys and Girls Club, Shimmel Elementary School and virtually all of the neighborhood’s faith-based organizations, including churches, food kitchens, health clinics and counseling centers.

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