Community Assets & Well Being
Safety is fundamental to the health and vitality of communities, and is also critical to attracting community-minded businesses and homeowners to neighborhoods.
Of course, local conomies can thrive eonly when residents and businesses aren't hampered by crime, and the fear of crime. Our work supports residents, police, community developers and other people who care about a neighborhood to collaborate in addressing crime and disorder. Our community safety programs set up problem-solving partnerships among law enforcement, community developers, residents, businesses and other neighborhood institutions to tackle crime hot spots and other public safety problems.
We also invest in opportunities to reclaim and create parks, greenways and trails where residents from all walks of life can get out and move their bodies. Our collaborations with the NFL Foundation “Grassroots” program and ESPN’s Home Court program help schools and community organizations build or rehab football fields and renovate basketball courts.
LISC Safety
LISC is committed to helping local neighborhoods make their communities safe places to live, work and play. Through the National LISC Safety Program, local communities have access to technical assistance and resources to help establish partnerships among law enforcement, residents, business owners and members of other neighborhood institutions. CSI also can deliver best practices for public safety strategies including Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED), local safety audits, and community policing trainings.
Since 2014, Greater Newark LISC has been working on the Fairmount Crime Reduction Initiative, an evidence-based, resident-informed, multi-sector approach to reducing crime in Newark's Fairmount community.
Parks and Recreational Space
Since 1998, LISC has partnered with the National Football League’s Youth Football Fund and the NFL Players Association to create or rehabilitate recreation fields in low-income communities across the country. The NFL Grassroots Program typically funds improvements to recreation fields breathing new life into year-round youth sports programs. Improvements include the installation of synthetic turf, irrigation systems, lights, bleachers, scoreboards and goal posts.
To date, six football fields in Newark and its surrounding communities have been rehabbed through the LISC NFL Grassroots Program including:
- Malcolm X Shabazz High School, Newark, NJ
- Andre Tippet Field, Branch Brook Park, Newark, NJ
- Nat Turner Park, Central Ward, Newark, NJ
- Westside Park, Newark, NJ
- Cochrane Field, Jersey City, NJ
- Jesse Allen Park, Newark, NJ
