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Durham residents living in or near the Hayti community can now look forward to continued assistance from the City of Durham thanks to a recently renewed "Weed and Seed" grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Executive Office of Weed and Seed.

The City recently received official notification that it has been awarded $225,000 for the third year of the Weed and Seed Initiative for use on new and existing programs. This includes $50,000 for a Special Emphasis Initiative on gang prevention and intervention utilizing existing programs in the community.

According to Yvonne Gilyard, weed and seed coordinator for the City's Department of Housing and Community Development, the Weed and Seed Initiative is a program that aims to prevent, control and reduce violent crime, drug abuse and gang activity in targeted high-crime neighborhoods across Durham. "The strategy involves a two-pronged approach. The Durham Police Department, other law enforcement agencies and prosecutors cooperate in 'weeding out' criminals who participate in violent crime, drug activities and gang involvement by attempting to prevent their return to a targeted area," Gilyard said. "Then, human services agencies cooperate by 'seeding' programs in a targeted area, encompassing prevention, intervention, treatment and neighborhood revitalization."

According to Gilyard, the Weed and Seed Initiative has been very successful in Durham. "It's obvious that the Justice Department feels we're doing a good job with this program since they approved grant funding for year three of our strategy," Gilyard said. "The Weed and Seed grant is becoming very competitive and many sites are not being re-funded. Because of the success we've had in Durham, our site did receive re-funding, which will enable us to continue to make an impact in our Hayti community."

For City Manager Patrick Baker, the renewed grant is an opportunity to continue the successful work that has taken place thus far since this initiative began in 2003. "The renewal of this grant ensures that the residents of Hayti are getting the services that they need and deserve," Baker said. "The fact that the federal government has renewed this grant for three years in a row speaks well of our Department of Housing and Community Development's efforts. It illustrates that this initiative is making a difference in the lives of our community, especially our youth."

Through the Weed and Seed Initiative, the City provides funding to multiple organizations and agencies to provide services to Hayti residents in need. These partnering agencies and organizations include the Durham PROUD Program, Durham County Teen Court and Restitution Program, D.L. Forbes Youth Foundation, Council for Senior Citizens, John Avery Boys and Girls Club, Another Way Ministries, New Horizons, Rites of Passage, Triangle East Chapter of 100 Black Men, Men of Vision, North Carolina Department of Corrections' Going Home Initiative and Durham Technical Community College. Durham residents interested in volunteering with any of these organizations that serve the Hayti community may contact Gilyard at (919) 560-4570, extension 268 or via e-mail at yvonne.gilyard@durhamnc.gov for more information.

About the City of Durham's Department of Housing and Community Development
The mission of the City of Durham's Department of Housing and Community Development is to improve the quality of housing and promote safe decent neighborhoods for the citizens of Durham. The primary functions of the department are to administer community development, housing production, service programs, enforce the City of Durham's minimum housing code, and to promote affordable housing by working with investors and community housing development organizations. For more information, visit the City's website.