Ongoing Work Though it’s important to gain momentum by making visible change happen on the ground quickly, ongoing work is required to ensure that short-term investments are nested in a longer-term vision for neighborhood safety in West Garfield Park. Engagement The first step in continuing the pilot work is to bring more people into the conversation. The team has made significant progress on engaging community residents, businesses, leaders, and other stakeholders, but more needs to be done to bring more people and their insights and talents into the process, to ensure the work is informed by those with the most expertise and most at stake. Expanded Services & Programs Neighborhood safety involves a wide variety of issues, many of which cannot be addressed by changes to the built environment alone. Physical investments must be accompanied by ongoing programmatic and service investments, including overdose prevention, victim services, fresh food distribution, and more. Public Safety/Security Coordination In addition to physical, programmatic, and direct service investments, Neighborhood Activation involves weekly coordination among City departments, including the Chicago Police Department, street outreach workers, community organizers, and designers to promote the implementation of community-led public safety strategies. Capacity Building A key step in continuing the initiative is to support community leaders in establishing governance and work plans to move forward. This requires an investment in civic engagement consulting services to support public-private collaboration, among other efforts.
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Activations
Major Development Projects Short-term investments like the Community Plaza on Madison can generate energy around transforming a community, but to sustain that momentum and demonstrate a commitment to change, future work must include longterm development projects requested by the community, such as a bank, grocery store, housing, and other necessary amenities. Fundraising To follow through on the work and maintain momentum, it is critical to secure funding to support communtiy-led initiatives and aspirations. Funding is also required to support a local design partner and impact evaluation. Additionally, the 2022 City budget must allocate funds to build upon the work done at Legler Library and the Community Plaza. Impact Assessment To demonstrate the efficacy of the work, a research partner must be brought on to set a baseline and document progress over time. These assessments will inform how the work continues to evolve. Focus Area Expansion In addition to expanding the investments and the network of people involved, to truly move the needle on neighborhood safety, the Neighborhood Activation focus area must expand beyond the 8 blocks surrounding Legler Library and Melody School. In the medium-term, the scope may include rings of surrounding blocks within West Garfield Park, with safe spaces linked together over time.
