PROGRAM MAY BE EXPANDED

Violence, drug dealers, crack cocaine addicts and abandoned homes ruined
Blonda Young Mack's west Jackson neighborhood.

The neighborhood's future seemed bleak until about five years ago, when it
and four other west Jackson neighborhoods were selected as sites for a Weed
and Seed project.

"It's better off now," said Mack, president of the Washington Addition
Neighborhood Association. "We can sit on our porches and walk up and down
the street."

Now, the city wants to expand the program into a larger area of west
Jackson. The U.S. Justice Department, which runs the program, has approved
the expansion, and the city is now preparing an application for funds.

The program uses federal grant money to weed out crime from neighborhoods
and seed them with revitalization projects.

In west Jackson, it has provided overtime for police officers, after-school
and summer enrichment programs and a community center with a computer lab.

As a result of the program, crimes such as aggravated assaults, robberies,
burglaries, auto thefts and drug crimes have declined in each of the
neighborhoods.

Burglaries in the neighborhoods have decreased the most, dropping from
nearly 300 in fiscal 1998 to slightly more than 150 in 2001, according to a
report the city submitted to the Justice Department seeking to expand the
program.

Earnestine Rice hopes the program's success can be duplicated in her
neighborhood, which would be part of the expansion.

"Our main problem most of the people are complaining about is the
speeding," said Rice, vice president of the Subdivision 1 Neighborhood
Association. "The next problem is drugs. The next problem is abandoned
houses and overgrown lots."

More than 100 dilapidated properties have been demolished through the Weed
and Seed project. Also, police have conducted undercover drug operations in
the neighborhoods. One round-up resulted in more than 30 arrests.

Mack said police have done a good job ridding her neighborhood of drugs but
more work needs to be done. Crack cocaine addicts still walk the streets
and young men often ride through the area on bicycles selling drugs, she said.

"All the big dope dealers are in the pen," Mack said. "The little peons are
left. They don't even have cars."

At the community center where the Weed and Seed Project is headquartered,
children do their homework, access the Internet and participate in art
classes. Elderly residents meet there to discuss issues of concern, said
Theresa King, director of Weed and Seed's restoration project.

The center at Canal and Poindexter streets is also used for job training.
It has helped more than 100 people find jobs, King said.

Sharie Davis, 16, who lives in Olin Park, said the center is the reason her
grades have improved.

"I come down every day," said Davis, a Jim Hill High School student. "I get
on the computer, listen to music, do word games and reports. I really don't
have a computer at home."

Weed and Seed Coordinator Ester Ainsworth said that although the project
has brought some positive changes to the area, it still has problems.

"By no means has Weed and Seed been the cure all," Ainsworth said. "It's
been a big help. But at the same time, other things are needed, too.

"We need to look at the economic development issues, too. We need to look
at how can we bring more businesses into the community, so we'll have jobs
That's not an easy thing to do."