Community Pilots Graffiti Removal Program
6.23.2017
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LISC StoriesCrime & Safety
With funding from the 3-year Byrne Criminal Justice Initiative grant, the Community Resource Team (CRT) - a cross-sector collaboration of community leaders, social service providers, and law enforcement working together to jointly identify and solve issues in the Prospect Avenue corridor - purchased a gas powered paint sprayer for graffiti abatement. CRT members Marlon Hammons (Washington Wheatley Neighborhood Association) and Ryan Samuelson (former CRT Coordinator) have started a pilot project to work with building owners to remove graffiti in the corridor. Over the last 2 months they have painted over graffiti at 3 sites to not only create a safer community, but to also develop and test methods for a potential scaled-up CRT graffiti abatement program. The City’s Neighborhood and Housing Services Department has expressed interest in partnering, and LISC is currently working with the CRT graffiti team to structure a model and attract financial support. The proposed program will include murals, installation of graffiti-deterring synthetic ivy, hiring of underemployed residents to form a small graffiti abatement team, and the redirecting of known graffiti perpetrators to other creative outlets and social services. Interested in supporting this endeavor?
