Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM APRIL 20-26, 2022 UCW 9 Fayetteville is set to start a grant program next month that aims to reduce the city's crime rate. Police Chief Gina Hawkins and Chris Cauley, the city's economic and community development director, presented the City Council with plans for the program, known as the Community Safety Microgrant, on Monday. Last fall, the council approved $250,000 to go toward the program, to be distributed in four cycles over the next two years, amid concerns of increasing violent crime in the city, Violent crimes in Fayetteville increased last year as part of a national trend, Carolina Public Press previously reported. e grant program was inspired by a similar program in Charlotte, Hawkins said. "Charlotte had ideas of not just community involve- ment, violence and intervention, but they had microgrant programs as well," she said. "We wanted to figure out how we could bring it here." Any eligible nonprofit organization or individual with an idea for community crime reduction that needs funding can apply for the program. Council member Shakeyla Ingram showed support for the program at Monday's meeting. "ough there is a police effort, there also is a commu- nity side as well," she said. "I believe if we really want to attack or address violent crime, the community has to do with itself." Applications for the program start May 2, and the dead- line for submission is May 29. How the program works e program is limited to any individual or nonprofit organization that has an operating budget of less than $100,000. For-profit businesses cannot participate in the program. Accepted applicants will be limited to those who pitch an idea that can be shown to limit community crime, which will be gauged through a scoring system. e details of that scoring criteria will be determined in a future council meeting. All ideas for crime reduction will be considered though, Hawkins said. "Education, empowerment, history of their community," she said. "It even talks about family stability. But we're not just limited to these criteria. When people are having an idea of it, these are just going to give a little bit more weight when the scoring comes up." In each of the four grant cycles, the city has allocated $50,000. Among that funding, three payment tiers are avail- able for each applicant — up to $1,500, $2,500 and $5,000. While nonprofits are eligible for the $5,000 tier from the outset, individuals must go through the other two tiers first. As individuals progress through the tiers, the city will conduct classes that teach them how to organize and oper- ate a nonprofit organization. e final $5,000 tier requires the grantees to be a nonprofit or be fiscally sponsored by a nonprofit. "e nonprofit is a high barrier," Cauley said. "at it is an IRS tax designation. Paperwork, you have to have an ac- countant and you've got to have an audit." Describing the classes, Cauley said, "We talk about the board composition and fundraising and the organizational development part of it. And then ultimately, we talk about the longevity and how you help your nonprofit continue year over year." Classes are a part of each six-month cycle. at cycle in- cludes the first month when application vetting takes place. For the next four months, the program is implemented, and in the last, grantees report back with results. In response to concerns from Mayor Mitch Colvin about the ability to adequately measure the success of the program, Hawkins said determining that isn't entirely dependent on hard results. "We know, it's difficult to say," she said. "e bottom line, if you got youth involved in your community, doing some- thing different, that's success." e council will appoint a committee to determine which applications are accepted. Options on how to comprise that committee will be pre- sented to the council in the next few weeks. Intruder shoots into house multiple times, leaving one man injured Cumberland County deputies are investigating a shoot- ing that left one Fayetteville man with life-threatening injuries. Deputies responded to a house off Sanderosa Road on April 13 around 5:25 a.m. in reference to multiple calls of a shooting. Upon arrival, deputies located 47-year-old Tony Blackledge in the house. He was transported to the hospital and is now likely expected to recover from his injuries. Deputies found that the residence was shot into in excess of 20 times, and approximately 72 shell casings were col- lected from the scene. e preliminary investigation has revealed that this shooting is not a random incident. If anyone has any information regarding this investiga- tion, please call the Cumberland County Sheriff 's Office Detective K. Hamlett at 910-677-5450 or Crimestoppers at 910-483-TIPS (8477). Paid parking in downtown Fayetteville to be reduced 2 hours e Fayetteville City Council officially approved to re- duce paid parking during last week's council meeting. e new paid parking hours will be 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. instead of 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. is will be in effect Monday through Friday. Parking will remain free on Saturdays and Sundays. e rates will remain the same, $1 per hour, and a maxi- mum of $5 daily. Lee Jernigan, city traffic engineer, told the council during a work session earlier this month that changing the times on the parking signs would cost about $8,000. e new times will be effective and enforced on May 2. Visit parkfayettevillenc.com to see all parking facilities, parking enforcement rules and pay station instructions. Spring Lake Board addresses "out of hand" litter Spring Lake will be partnering with Cumberland County Solid Waste to reduce litter in the community with the 5 for Friday campaign, according to Spring Lake Aldermen. e 5 for Friday campaign is a program that encourages residents to pick up five pieces of trash every Friday, said Deanna Rosario, the Stormwater Program and Sustainabil- ity Administrator. "I get a lot of comments about the litter," said Rosario. "A lot of people want to know about the litter." Tim Middleton with Cumberland County Solid Waste says if just 25% of Cumberland County residents pick up five pieces of trash, that'll be 21 million pieces of trash removed from the community every year. "It's really getting to be a problem," Middleton said. "We picked up just one 2 acre lot and we pulled 35 tons of trash out." Middleton says Spring Lake and Cumberland County have to put a stop to this. Getting kids involved and intro- ducing them to sustainable living when they're young it will impact the future. e campaign's goal is to encourage businesses, schools, community groups and individuals to reverse litter by having people pick up five pieces of trash and recyclable materials every Friday, according to the campaign website. e mascot, Stan the Can, will appear in social media videos and at events to promote this campaign. Residents are encouraged to post their litter pickups on social media and use the hashtags #5forFriday and #StantheCan to help spread awareness of the campaign. e Board of Aldermen also voted to appoint the Interim Town Manager and the Inspections Department Assistant to develop, administer and enforce development regulations. Also at the meeting, a free, monthly digital magazine called "Spring Lake Foward" will start being circulated, thanks to Debra Clyde, a resident of Spring Lake. She introduced the magazine as a way to show off the positive things happening in the community. Clyde hopes the magazine will increase community involvement and spread awareness of events that are happening for Spring Lake families. Clyde also plans on highlighting positive stories in the community. Fayetteville seeks to combat crime with community group grants by BEN SESSOMS, HANNAH LEE & JESSICA MAY NEWS DIGEST