community safety
phillips west lighting pilot program
In 2021, the PWNO Safety Committee was tasked with allocating a $40,000 grant that the Phillips West neighborhood received for community safety projects. Through examining the results of the PWNO community survey, door knocking, a community safety dinner, and many months of discussion, the Safety Committee sent it’s final recommendation to the PWNO Board of Directors in fall 2021. This proposal was adopted.
Out of that $40,000, $2,500 was allocated towards a lighting pilot program which was used to purchase 50 strands of string lights (25 plug in and 25 solar). The implementation of this lighting pilot is one of the core goals for the PWNO Safety Committee in 2022.
This program will take place over two phases:
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Phase 1 - Targeted Testing: the PWNO Safety Committee has selected three blocks to test these lights, chosen based on level of darkness, community visibility, and spacial distribution around the neighborhood. Neighbors on these blocks are working with the Safety Committee to share more about their particular needs, document the process, and provide feedback.
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Phase 2 - Broad Distribution: Applications will open up to any Phillips West resident on a first-come, first-served basis to receive these free lights. Implementation and distribution will be based on lessons learned in Phase 1.
safety committee
Our community safety work is led by our Safety Committee, a group of residents committed to holding a space for discussing safety issues and implementing programs that increase safety in our neighborhood. This committee fundamentally holds that safety looks and feels differently to different people based on geographic location within Phillips West, different identities that we hold, and previous life experiences. Therefore, we are committed to pursuing a range of safety initiatives, from short-term to long term and physical to social/emotional interventions
Since this committee formed in early 2021, we have been working to use the results from the PWNO Community Survey along with other outreach efforts to develop a safety budget that is responsive to community desires. You can reference the safety responses from our 2021 community survey in the full Community Survey report here.