Lowell Police Department

Weed & Seed staff create monthly community calendars and hand deliver copies to businesses, government offices and human service agencies. Weed & Seed also distributes materials at events and to individual homes in the target area. If you have an idea about how we can reach out to residents and businesses in the target area, email us: rtheum@lowellma.gov

Lowell received technical assistance from the Executive Office for Weed & Seed for a community gardening mentor at “From the Roots Up”. This mentorship will begin in September of 2000. Our mentor will help us develop a mission for urban agriculture in Lowell and will then work with residents to develop a community garden in the target area. Let us know if you would like to be involved in this exciting project.

Weed & Seed has focused attention on communication with residents about crime in their neighborhood. For example, Weed & Seed made a specific effort to communicate with residents on a particular street about drug activity. Several residents made calls to the police to report drug distribution. These calls led to execution of a search warrant, but the search was conducted at 4 am when neighbors were unlikely to see the arrest. In order to keep them in the communication loop, flyers were placed on each door and car to let them know about the arrest and to encourage them to call with any additional information. Residents responded with several more calls and additional arrests were made. Drugs and money were also seized as a result of this ongoing communication with residents.

Other recent Weed & Seed community policing activities include three KidCare Id events—the Lincoln School Safe Haven, the Acre Safe Haven and Cambodian New Year. Police Officers and Weed & Seed staff were able to talk to children and parents about child safety at each of these events and almost 500 children received Ids.

Each year, our Weed & Seed site conducts an evaluation. Our evaluation this year will consist of several activities:

Landlord Training Program

Lowell Weed & Seed began a partnership with the Greater Lowell Landlord’s Association, Lowell Housing Authority, Community Teamwork, Inc., and the City’s Neighborhood Services Division to plan a landlord training event. Using the National Landlord Training model, the partners listed above worked together to create a local landlord training manual. This manual will be available at a September Landlord Training. Landlords who are unable to attend the event can also request a copy from the Weed & Seed office.

The manual and training focus on creating a safer community through tenant screenings, building maintenance, neighborhood watches and eviction of tenants engaged in illegal activity. Email us for more information about the training or the manual.

Library

Weed & Seed has a collection of books on community organizing, developing non-profit organizations and violence prevention. We also have videos on gangs and conflict resolution.

Any community member, neighborhood group or non-profit can borrow these books or videos. Call the Weed & Seed office at (978) 446-7289 or email Rena Theum at rtheum@lowellma.gov to find out more.

National Organization for Weed & Seed

Lowell’s Weed & Seed Coordinator serves represents the New England states on the board of the National Organization for Weed & Seed (NOWS). NOWS is a membership organization for Weed & Seed sites.

The mission of NOWS is to strengthen collaborative community based public safety and community development strategies through:

Weed & Seed is working with several community partners to develop a resource guide for Lowell. We will be using information gathered by Community YouthMappers to begin the guide. Stay tuned for more!

Lowell has two Safe Havens that provide educational and recreational activities for children and their families. These safe community places are the Acre Youth Center and the Lincoln Community School. Call the Weed & Seed office for information about after school and evening activities for fall.

Safety First is a project similar in focus to Weed & Seed. It uses a multi-disciplinary committee to decrease violent juvenile crime. For the past couple of years, Safety First has utilized staffing in the Police Department, the Probation Department and the Department of Youth Services to conduct home visits with probationers, particularly those involved in gang activity and/or violent crime.

Using Weed & Seed resources, we formalized the program by hiring a Police Officer to come in specifically for the home visits. The Weed & Seed Steering Committee supports this program because it gives the team an opportunity to meet with youth one on one and also meet with their parents.

In the months ahead, Lowell Weed & Seed will launch an Urban Technology Center in the target area. The Center will provide residents and businesses with an opportunity to learn computer fundamentals, work processing, internet, etc.

In order to kick off the project, we need volunteers that can help staff the lab and recruit students. Call the Weed & Seed office if you can help out with this exciting new initiative.

Technology and training will be provided by the National Urban Technology Center through a partnership with the Executive Office for Weed & Seed.

In the fall of 2000, Weed & Seed will begin a truancy initiative. In preparation for this initiative, Weed & Seed staff has been meeting with other community stakeholders to explore the truancy issue and develop a preliminary strategy. If you would like to be involved in planning this initiative, email us: rtheum@lowellma.gov

The Youth Loop is a unique youth transportation initiative that was shaped in part by Weed & Seed. It provides evening and Saturday transportation for youth to 16 locations throughout the city:

Acre Market Basket
Acre Youth Center
Boys & Girls Club
Gallagher Intermodal Center
YMCA
Plain Street ~ Chelmsford Street Housing
Showcase Cinema
Cambodian Mutual Assistance Association
Middlesex Community College
St. Michael's Drop-In Center
Downtown Transit Center
UTEC ~ United Teen Equality Center
Tsongas Arena/LeLacheur Pa

Each of these locations provides educational, recreational or employment opportunities for youth. For more information about the route, call (978) 805-4747 Monday-Friday from 9AM to 5 PM.

The project developed out of a research study done by the Center for Family, Work and Community in the Spring of 1999. The Weed & Seed Steering Committee’s interest in working toward evening public transportation services led to our involvement in the Youth Loop. Specifically, Weed & Seed was involved in planning the route, raising funds and promoting the service.

On June 17, the Youth Loop transportation service began running. The Weed & Seed Steering Committee helped get posters and/or schedules to over thirty youth-serving locations in the city.