Crime has decreased in East Chattanooga since the U.S. Department of Justice invested $1 million in the community three years ago, but some local residents say it’s up to them to sustain the improvement when the money runs out two years from now.
“It takes more than a handful of people to change a community,” said Jean McIntire, 72, who has lived in the Avondale neighborhood of East Chattanooga for eight years. “If I can get involved, you can, too.”
IF YOU GOCommunity meetings* Avondale: 6 p.m. third Monday of each month at Avondale Recreation Center.* Bushtown: 6 p.m. second Tuesday at Carver Recreation Center.* Churchville: 6 p.m. second Thursday at Carver Recreation Center.* East Chattanooga/Glass Farms: 6 p.m. second Tuesday at Community Christ Ministry at the corner of Glass Street and Chamberlain Avenue.* Glenwood: 6 p.m. fourth Thursday at Glenwood Recreation Center.* Lincoln Park: 6 p.m. third Tuesday at Gethsemane Baptist Church, 1127 Garfield St.* Orchard Knob: 6 p.m. third Tuesday at Carver Recreation Center.* Riverside Drive: Quarterly on the second Saturday of the quarter at 5 p.m. in Joseph Chapel-Bozentown, corner of Wood Avenue and Farleigh Street.For more information, go to www.eastchattanoogaweedandseed.org or call 752-4449.WEED AND SEEDThe East Chattanooga Weed and Seed grant is a $1 million, five-year grant awarded in 2007 by the U.S. Department of Justice. Annual amounts announced so far include:* 2007-08: $175,000* 2008-09: $150,000* 2009-10: $142,000* 2010-11: $157,000* 2011-12: To be announcedSource: Chattanooga Housing Authority
McIntire is among several East Chattanooga residents urging others to be ready to step up after 2012 when the five-year Justice Department grant, part of the national Weed and Seed program, is expected to end.
“The mindset is to let somebody else come and fix my community, but it’s not going to happen,” said James Moreland, East Chattanooga Weed and Seed chairman. “When you see a nice-quality neighborhood, it’s the people living there holding the standard.”
Weed and Seed funding helps pay for more police officers in the community, and the results can be seen in crime statistics, according to the Chattanooga Police Department.
The Weed and Seed area includes Avondale, Bushtown, Orchard Knob, Churchville, East Chattanooga/Glass Farms, Glenwood, Lincoln Park and Riverside.
Violent crime in those neighborhoods has fallen 15 percent since last year, department figures show. Murder fell by 66.7 percent, and robberies went down 17.95 percent. Auto theft dropped 25.7 percent, according to the department.
First grant
The Westside won Chattanooga’s first Weed and Seed grant in 1995 and a renewal in 2000. Police and residents talked about how crime decreased.
But when the grant money ran out in September 2006, the community had nothing in place to sustain the progress.
“They did a good job, but the grant ran out, and when the grant ran out, the people doing it went away,” Moreland said. “Then what happens? They go right back to where they had been.”
Chattanooga police figures show the number of a few crimes have dropped or stayed steady in Westside since Weed and Seed ended, but most numbers have gone up.
Domestic violence assaults have risen steadily, going from 11 in 2006 to 13 in 2007 and 2008 and 17 in 2009, records show. So far this year, there have been 12 domestic violence assaults, records show.
Simple assaults not associated with domestic violence also have risen, from four in 2006 to 10 in 2009, according to records. But so far in 2010, there has only been one.
In 2006, there were two aggravated assaults in Westside, police records show, while there have been four aggravated assaults so far this year. There were eight burglaries in 2006, and so far this year there have been five, records show.
But narcotics offenses have dropped from 16 in 2006 to six so far this year while the number of robberies, auto thefts and thefts of items in vehicles has remained about the same in the timeframe.
Walter Williams, a former Westside Community Development Corp. board chairman and Westside resident, said the Weed and Seed grant caused a “rejuvenation” in the community, but there has been a deterioration in the overall atmosphere of the neighborhood since it ended.
“I see the community reverting back to what it used to be, all kinds of criminal activity, lack of hope and despair,” said Williams, a former City Court judge. “You can drive by there now and see people hanging out. No hope. No opportunities afforded to the people.”
Getting involved
In East Chattanooga, one of the first steps residents can take to maintain the advances made through Weed and Seed is to attend meetings of the local neighborhood associations, some residents said. But those groups are finding it hard to attract anyone.
Though there are hundreds of households in Avondale, fewer than 10 people attended Avondale’s last neighborhood meeting, where community concerns were discussed.
Lucille Wright, 69, president of the Avondale Neighborhood Association, wants to get attendance up to about 50 people before the end of the year.
In the East Chattanooga/Glass Farms Association, about three people attend meetings, and most of them are more than 60 years old, said association President Etta Kanipes, who’s 70.
McIntire said people are afraid to get involved.
“Everybody is scared,” she said. “But you have to do something or you’re going to have more reason to be scared.”
Contact Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6431.