Westeds justice and prevention research center (JPRC) is requesting grant funds to support RE-imagining community safety in greenville, south carolinas nicholtown neighborhood

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), through the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program (CFDA 16.738), has awarded a $2,000,000 Cooperative Agreement to WestEd, a non-profit education research and services agency, to support "Re-Imagining Community Safety" in the Nicholtown neighborhood of Greenville, South Carolina. The project aims to: 1) Assess the community's safety needs, 2) Assist in implementing a new Nicholtown Community Safety Strategy (NCSS), and 3) Evaluate the NCSS for continuous quality improvement, sustainability, and crime reduction. This effort will engage the Greenville Mayor's Office, Police Department, NAACP, and Sterling School to facilitate "Voices of Informed Community Engagement for Safety" (VOICES), a system-thinking approach to enhance community safety in this predominantly Black, high-crime neighborhood. The project is scheduled to run from October 2023 through September 2026.

In partnership with greenvilles mayors office, police department, naacp, and the sterling school, the JPRC proposes to implement VOICES of informed community engagement for safety (VOICES) to engage the community to assess needs and enhance and evaluate a new community safety strategy in the nicholtown neighborhood of greenville, south carolina, ZIP code 29607. Greenville is located along the I-85 corridor in upstate south carolinageographically positioned between charlotte, north carolina, and atlanta, georgiaand has a population of just over 70,000. Within the greenville city is the nicholtown neighborhood, located about a mile from downtown greenville. Nicholtown is a predominantly black community. Over the past four years, violent personal crime (e.g., homicide, aggravated assault, rape, etc.) rates in nicholtown have been over 40% higher than citywide. Property crimes (e.g., arson, burglary, theft, etc.) are also increasing. While low-level crimes (e.g., disorderly conduct, DUI, vandalism, curfew, etc.) have been down since 2019, they show an upward trend in the past few years. Life for a significant portion of residents is getting harder, and the services that help them are getting geographically tougher to access. This is due to increasing trends in rent costs (35% higher than the average income), housing prices (up 140% in the past three years), and poverty rates (13.5%). These challenges, in part, are impacting crime rates, economic development, diversity, and opportunities for safer communities. The project seeks to implement VOICES to develop a new community safety model within nicholtown, build collaborative capacity with partner organizations and residents, promote racial equity, and remove barriers within nicholtown that may impede opportunities for success for those who have been underserved. The JPRC will support greenville in identifying and implementing a new nicholtown community safety strategy (NCSS) by facilitating VOICES. VOICES incorporates a system-thinking approach to assess community safety needs, identify innovative solutions, improve implementation readiness, and evaluate for continuous quality improvement and sustainability. The primary objectives of this project include: 1) assessing the needs of nicholtown to identify a community safety strategy that meets their communitys needs; 2) assisting the community in implementing the NCSS; and 3) evaluating the NCSS for CQI, sustainability, and reducing crime.