3. Washington Village/Pigtown Weed and Seed Site

The Washington Village site is in a historic district of Baltimore City. Washington Village has been extremely active in taking advantage of Weed and Seed technical assistance and training opportunities, enabling the site to establish a "Safety Team" comprised of representatives from local law enforcement, parole and probation, the Baltimore City State's Attorney's Office, community-based service providers and community residents. The team has been very effective in enforcing and proactively addressing public safety issues in the area.

The Washington Village / Pigtown Neighborhood Planning Council was also granted funding from Baltimore City to become one of the city's seven "Main Street" initiative sites. The program is aimed at generating economic expansion by promoting small business growth in targeted Baltimore communities. The program will permit current and potential businesses to access funds to upgrade the physical appearance of their business districts, and to attract new businesses. These and other ongoing efforts in the Washington Village community will continue to promote the positive revitalization of this historic Baltimore community.

The current Washington Village Weed and Seed site is coming to the close of its funding cycle. The site has been actively engaged in organizing another Weed and Seed effort in an adjacent community that has been impacted by the displacement of criminal activity.

4. Northwest Park/Oakview Community Weed and Seed Site

The Northwest Park/Oakview Community Weed and Seed site, located in the southern most portion of Montgomery County, is Maryland’s newest officially recognized site. The area has been plagued by significant criminal activity. More specifically, the Northwest Park/Oakview communities have experienced an influx of criminal gang activity and violence from the expansion of such organizations as MS-13.

In addition to gang activity, much of the area’s immigrant population face significant barriers to social advancement in the broader community, such as language skills and cultural differences. Montgomery County government has made a strong commitment to working with the leaders of these communities, area residents and non-governmental service providers to systemically address the aforementioned issues. A great deal of this commitment has been reflected in the communities Weed and Seed strategy. While the strategy is in its initial stage, we are confident that this initiative will provide an opportunity to foster substantive change in these communities.