NTCDC/Northwest Curfew Center
Opening April 2007

• NTCDC/Northwest Curfew Center
  

  What does the NTCDC/Northwest Curfew Center Do?
  The NTCDC/Northwest Curfew Center is a community-driven facility which provides a caring and protective environment for youth ages 17 and under, who violate curfew within the 39th and 5th Police Districts.

  What happens when a youth violates curfew?

  1. Curfew violators are picked up by Philadelphia Police Officers and transported to the NTCDC/Northwest Curfew Center. 
  2. Youth are welcomed to the NTCDC/Northwest Curfew Center, and parent/guardian is immediately notified to pick up child.
  3. Trained volunteers and staff ensure well being of youth, and conduct intake interview with them.
  4. When parent/guardian arrives, they are identified and welcomed by staff and volunteers, who complete intake interview process before youth are released to them. 
  5. Families are offered the diverse array of resources and services provided by the NTCDC/Northwest Curfew Center.
  6. While at the NTCDC/Northwest Curfew Center, youth will receive a snack, engage with caring volunteers, participate in recreational activities, or rest/sleep while waiting to be picked up by parent/guardian.
  7. If parent/guardian does not come to pick up youth by 6AM, the Northwest Curfew Center staff will transport youth to Department of Human Services for further supportive services.
  8. Youth and their parents may face penalties for repeated Curfew violations!! 

• Weed & Seed
  
  What is Weed and Seed?
  Weed and Seed, a community-based strategy sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), is an innovative, comprehensive multi-agency approach to law enforcement, crime prevention, and community revitalization. The Community Capacity Development Office (CCDO) oversees the Weed and Seed initiative.
  
  The Weed and Seed strategy includes four basic components:
  1. Law enforcement
  2. Community policing
  3. Prevention, intervention, and treatment
  4. Neighborhood restoration
  
  Four fundamental principles underlie the Weed and Seed strategy:
  1. Collaboration
  2. Coordination
  3. Community participation
  4. Leveraging of resources 
  
  Nicetown fits all of the requirements to become officially recognized as a Weed & Seed site, especially because of the infamous “hot spot” –Wingohocking Street.  Open air drug dealing, high crime, vandalism, high unemployment and recidivism rates are problems plaguing this depressed area.  The proposed boundaries of our strategy area encompass the entire Wingohocking strip, and areas surrounding it.   For more than 2 years, the Nicetown CDC and its Neighborhood Advisory Committee have been organizing and mobilizing community leaders to develop a Weed & Seed Steering Committee.  This Committee is comprised of community leaders, local law enforcement, and other key stakeholders who work directly with representatives from Offices of the Attorney General  and Department of Justice.  The Nicetown Weed & Seed Steering Committee has been advised and facilitated by Deputy Managing Director Frankie Hughes, and Philadelphia Weed & Seed Director Donna Griffin.  Together, this Team has worked diligently to secure Nicetown’s designation as a Weed & Seed strategy area.
  
  The Nicetown CDC has taken the lead as a community based organization poised to restore Nicetown with resident driven projects and programs that can be successfully coordinated with Weed & Seed.   The Nicetown CDC’s goals and objectives include the Weed & Seed principles, which have produced productive outcomes.  The following photos distinctly  illustrate this:
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

This clean up was coordinated by the Nicetown CDC and its Neighborhood Advisory Committee, which included registration and participation of 45 local Block Captains, collaboration with the Managing Director’s Office and other City Departments, and the Weed & Seed Emergency Response Team.

• Clean & Safe Initiative

Leave it better: Cleaning Up the Community
A youth program in Philadelphia gives back to its own community.
Parks & Recreation Magazine, Jan, 2007  
Project: Make A Difference Day, Philadelphia, Pa.
Problem:
Nicetown Park was in need of some extra maintenance to remove graffiti, repair brickwork and improve landscaping. In addition, the community suffered the eyesore of ten unused lots nearby.

Students from YouthBuild Philadelphia Charter School fix masonry(above) and remove trash in Nicetown Park(below)

Solution: More than 180 students from Youth-Build Philadelphia Charter School, which conditions high school drop-outs for adult life through community service, came together in observance of the 16th annual Make A Difference Day to improve their community. Each year, a new community is chosen as the target of Make A Difference Day's team cleanup. This year, Nicetown Community Development Corporation encouraged the students to better Nicetown Park and the surrounding community. Students down the street erected fences to close in the unused lots. "Make a Difference Day is one of our big service events," said Amy Kapp of Youth Build Philadelphia. "Part of being a YouthBuild student means that you're going to be reconnected to your community."

Partnerships:
Nicetown Community Development Corporation worked with students who cleaned up Nicetown Park, and Allegheny West Foundation funded the fences for the unused lots. In addition, the Philadelphia Recreation Department supplied trash pickup materials and bottled water. The Philadelphia Green Program (Pennsylvania Horticultural Society) provided the graffiti removal solution, grass seed, hay and planting materials.
YouthBuild participates in Make A Difference Day to benefit areas of Philadelphia once a year. YouthBuild offers a 10-month program for students to make them successful members of their community.

Community Impact:
Not only does the park, city blocks or other YouthBuild project locations benefit, but the students that are participating gain insightful knowledge and training they can return to their communities. Jacqualine Dix was part of the YouthBuild team. "It was a chance to give back to the community, and that meant a lot to me," Dix says. "My family lives here and I spend a lot of time here, so it felt good to be there helping out." And because it is something students want others to enjoy, each project leaves something unique behind to the community. The Nicetown Park cleanup also resulted in a collaborative mural that has a permanent home in Edward T. Steel Elementary School.