Charlotte has expanded its Alternatives to Violence program, which works to reduce crime by using trained community members known as “violence interrupters.” There's a new team that plans to reduce crime in one of the city's designated low-income Corridors of Opportunity.
Donnell Gardner and the new team gathered one recent afternoon on West Boulevard, near a convenience store and fast-food restaurants, to hand out leaflets and resources about the program to people in the area.
Gardner leads the team.
“I’m hoping people buy into it because, to be honest, for the program to work, we need collaboration from the business owners and the community," Gardner said. "That would make the program thrive.”
Gardner is from West Boulevard. He said the early phases of the program focus on connecting with community members — in an area where trust in police and law enforcement is low.
“The main thing is just building relationships within the community because what we're doing, you have to be an ally within the community. You can’t just infringe on these people without a trust factor,” Gardner said. “These communities have dealt with so many traumas, people coming in and out, and not being able to trust a lot, so our main objective is to build trust and positive relationships.”
Sheila McDowell sat in the passenger seat of a car parked outside a Family Dollar store. She said she is pleased to see the team working to reduce crime.
“We need that over here in our area. West Boulevard, we have a lot of stuff happening over here,” McDowell said. “I mean, violence and people just doing stuff, drugs, and all that kind of stuff, and all that needs to be stopped.”
McDowell lives nearby. She said she sees a range of disturbing activity from people in the corridor.
“They’ll be out there every morning. They’re drinking; they’re fighting; they’re arguing. It’s just unnecessary stuff,” McDowell said. “If I go to pay my phone bill or something, there’s always something going on.”
Data show the areas surrounding West Boulevard had a violent crime rate nearly three times greater than the county’s average last year. Meanwhile, there were nine homicides on or near West Boulevard in the last five years.
The Alternatives to Violence program works to reduce these statistics. The program is overseen by Youth Advocate Programs in partnership with the city and county and is partly funded by a $1 million federal grant. Before being recruited to the team, James Love said he was caught up in illegal activity. He said spotting the team’s approach made him want to join the program.
“I saw these guys; they were moving around. I liked how they were moving. They were moving militant; they were moving together as a team,” Love said. “And I liked it and told the lady, ‘I was tired of doing this’ because I’ve been out here for a while.”
Love initially volunteered with the program and has now been a paid team member for over a month. Love said he wants to support other people caught up in drug activity.
“It’s about really helping people, helping the kids and stuff like that. I don’t have kids,” Love said. “Hopefully, I can save a couple of these kids. It would make me feel better.”
A report from the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute about the program on Beatties Ford Road showed some promising signs in the first year, with over 40 violence interruptions. Yet, the report cautions that it’s too early to assess the findings fully. Jasmine Cathy crossed paths with the team off West Boulevard and was handed a flier. Cathy said the program can make a difference in a neighborhood, but other resources need to be available to the community to help reduce criminal activities.
“They need to clean up the whole little area because it is drug-infested, violent-infested, and if they put some more things in the area for the kids to do, I think the violence in this area would come down,” Cathy said.
Afterward, the team drove to their office on Beatties Ford Road, another corridor a different Alternatives to Violence team oversees.
Gardner led a debrief and filed a report on a laptop about the canvassing session, which included answering questions about how many leaflets the team handed out and how many people they engaged with.
If the team identifies community members needing assistance, they can connect them with services, including job opportunities, emotional support and temporary housing assistance.
The team will return tomorrow, walking the streets, handing out flyers, and trying to interrupt the cycle of violence.
