Pubdate: Fri, 07 Apr 2006
Source: Hartford Courant (CT)
Copyright: 2006 The Hartford Courant
Contact:  http://www.courant.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/183
Author: Tina A. Brown, Courant Staff Writer

FUNDS TARGET NEIGHBORHOODS

Federal Grants To Boost Anti-Crime Efforts, Youth Programs

Two Hartford neighborhoods will benefit from $175,000 in federal Weed 
and Seed money to help police reduce gun violence and narcotics 
sales, and to aid community groups providing youth programs in the 
Upper Albany and Clay-Arsenal sections of the city.

The grant was announced Thursday morning by U.S. Attorney Kevin J. 
O'Connor, Hartford Mayor Eddie A. Perez and Hartford Police Chief 
Patrick J. Harnett at a news conference outside a police substation 
on Albany Avenue.

Community leaders George Scott and Bea Powell both said they hope the 
police will use the money to beef up community policing programs. 
Scott said he would like the city to open up the substation to the 
community, and to see more community police officers make their 
presence known in the area.

"We want more than on-again, off-again," Scott said.

Harnett and Perez said the plan is to beef up community policing in 
the area. About $90,000 of the $175,000 will be spent on police 
overtime, equipment and supplies for city police and the program 
coordinator, according to the grant application.

The balance will be used for community-based organizations, which are 
expected to provide a variety of programs, including mentoring 
programs for youths and ex-offenders, computer services, delinquency 
prevention and drug treatment programs, said Program Coordinator 
Richard LeGrier.

While the grants for the community groups have not yet been awarded, 
a steering committee made up of representatives from both 
neighborhoods is considering applications from "existing programs 
that have a track record of producing results," LeGrier said.

"The spirit of this is not to pay for your program," he said. 
"Funding is not for start-ups. Every one of these programs has to 
demonstrate matching resources. Sustainability is key."

The groups that have applied for funding include The Urban League of 
Greater Hartford; Stump the Violence, a program of Hartford 
Communities that Care; the Artists Collective; The Upper Albany 
Neighborhood Collaborative; Upper Albany Main Street; Hogar Crea, a 
re-education program for drug addicts; The Vine Albany Task Force; 
Good Works; The Hartford Animation Institute; and the Hip Hop 
Leadership Academy.

Federal officials say they plan to renew the grant in $200,000 
increments over the next five years if the programs funded by the 
grant in Upper Albany and Clay Arsenal neighborhoods are successful.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman