WEED & SEED IS GROWING

The Kalihi-Palama/Chinatown Site Is Expanding

Oahu's Weed & Seed program has proved to be so successful that it is expanding
into new neighborhoods.

The new Weed & Seed area will enlarge the first site in Kalihi-Palama/Chinatown
to include an area bordered by Ala Moana, Kaheka, Sheridan and South King
streets and also Kalihi Valley, U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo announced yesterday.

The residents of the area -- slightly more than 58,000 -- will be under the
protection of the federal Weed & Seed program. That will include students at
Farrington and McKinley high schools and more than half of Oahu's
public-housing residents.

The federal Weed & Seed program is a two-step process that aims to rebuild
neighborhoods. Police reduce crime by "weeding" out drugs and gangs, while
community members "seed" the neighborhood with prevention, intervention and
revitalization. Crimes in Weed & Seed areas are subject to harsher penalties
because they may be deemed federal offenses.

Waipahu and Ewa are the other two Weed & Seed sites on Oahu.

There has been a 70 percent drop in crime in Kalihi-Palama/Chinatown in the
five years it has been a Weed & Seed site, Kubo said.

The success of the Kalihi-Palama/Chinatown Weed & Seed has persuaded the
program's National Executive Office to expand the local program.

But several supporters believe that enlarging the boundaries is only the first
step.

"Restoring a neighborhood takes a lot of work. It takes someone donating a
building," said Dolores Mollring, who wants to see more community centers for
children.

"We need to get more of the gangs to socialize and work together. You can be in
a gang and still do good things," Mollring said. "I may be in a dream world,
but that's what I would like to see."

Maile Kanemaru, executive director of Weed & Seed Hawaii, highlighted the
importance of the community, which she said drives the "seeding" part of
neighborhood restoration.

"Community members know what the problems are. They are coming to us and
saying, 'We want to make a difference. Tell us what to do,'" she said.

"But you don't have to live in a federal agency site to drive crime out of your
neighborhood," Kanemaru said. "Teach each other to be caring, neighbor to
neighbor, street by street."