By Abha Thakkar, Northside Planning Council, with Allison Dungan, City of Madison
Summer in Wisconsin is a long-awaited time of sunshine and warmth, a time for us to enjoy the natural spaces, community gardens and outdoor recreational opportunities of the Northside. Unfortunately, it’s also the time of year when we see a rise in shots-fired incidents and episodes of violence. This year, in partnership with the City of Madison, community organizations are working to take a proactive stance to address violence.
In mid-2016, the City was awarded a grant from the Department of Justice to develop strategies to mitigate youth-related violence, specifically on the Northside. Since then, partners, including the Northside Planning Council (NPC) through its Neighborhood Navigator program, have gathered input through a process involving dozens of core community stakeholders, made up of more than 60% Northside residents and more than 50% people of color, 50 Northside youth, a dozen meetings with community stakeholders, six focus groups, 80 formal community surveys, and hundreds of informal conversations. Using this input, the partners developed an implementation plan for administering the grant dollars, which was approved by the federal government in April 2018.
The core of the implementation plan includes two significant grant processes for violence prevention initiatives on the Northside and the continuation of NPC’s Neighborhood
Navigator program as a way to help overcome isolation, improve access to services and build trust among underrepresented groups on the Northside.
The first round of grants for program expansion and youth employment opportunities, along with Neighborhood Navigator funding, was approved by the Madison Common Council on May 15:
Briarpath Youth Services: $15,000 to create and coordinate a Northside Youth Employer group dedicated to increasing positive employment outcomes for youth by ensuring more trauma-aware employment practices; and up to $70,000 to create youth employment opportunities for 24, 14-15 year old, system-involved youth on Madison’s Northside, in work that enhances connection to community.
Opportunity Inc: $30,000 for the Youth Emerging Successfully (YES!) youth leadership and skills training program.
Madison Starlings Volleyball: $24,000 for the enhancement of pro-social activities offered through youth volleyball.
Dane Arts Mural Arts in collaboration with Jerry Butler Arts: $40,000 for the enhancement of healing and pro-social behaviors through arts engagement with vulnerable and systems-involved Northside youth.
Vera Court Neighborhood Center: $60,000 for the expansion of youth programming, safe and trauma-informed spaces on Madison’s Northside for vulnerable and systems-involved middle and high school youth.
The grant program will also be funding expanded teen hours at Warner Park Community Recreation Center and Lakeview Library on summer weekends.
The second round of funding includes grant dollars for programs that focus on community-based wellness, strengthening community and increasing trust, and youth leadership development. The implementation plan and grant application for the second round of funding, due June 13, can be found at http://northsideplanningcouncil.org.
