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.