A Claymont community long plagued by drugs, blight and violence will be the first New Castle County neighborhood targeted as part of an initiative to reduce violence and prop up underserved areas, county officials announced Wednesday.
New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer and several county councilmembers introduced the Building Better Communities program in October. The grant-based initiative, which will be funded using some of the $108 million the county received from the American Rescue Plan Act, aims to increase community engagement in struggling neighborhoods.
Building Better Communities will first focus on Claymont’s Knollwood community, then be rolled out to other areas across the county. Meyer called the program a “historic opportunity to reimagine the communities in which we live.”
He added that the initiative will “address problems that arose in recent months and divisions that have festered for decades.”
BACKGROUND:Shootings, blight and hopelessness: What happened to this once-vibrant Claymont community?
Knollwood is a befitting first choice for the program, given the 150-home community has “always had a bad reputation one way or another,” neighborhood resident Ken Vincent told Delaware Online/The News Journal last summer.
Once called Worthland, the blue-collar community was built in the 1920s as a settlement for mill workers employed at Worth Steel Co. That company later became CitiSteel USA Inc. and then EVRAZ Claymont Steel.
By the latter part of the 20th century, fewer and fewer steelworkers inhabited the neighborhood and the area increasingly fell into decline. That only worsened when the steel mill shuttered.
While drugs have almost always plagued Knollwood, the issues there have only gotten worse in recent years as the opioid epidemic has ravaged communities in Delaware and across the nation, residents, officials and health experts say.
As a result of the drug activity, violence is also prevalent. The two issues are “kissing cousins,” said Dr. Sandra Gibney, chairwoman of the access and treatment committee for Delaware’s Behavioral Health Consortium.
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Though there have been no reported shootings in Knollwood since last summer, the interconnectedness of these two issues is evidenced by a quadruple shooting in July that killed two people and injured two others.
According to court documents recently obtained by Delaware Online/The News Journal and accounts from several neighbors, the shooting stemmed from an attempted robbery of marijuana on Balfour Avenue.
In an indictment last month, prosecutors said 18-year-old Israel Lecompte, an accused gang member, conspired with 16-year-old Jasir Brown and another man to commit the crime. During the robbery, prosecutors say Lecompte shot 27-year-old Nathan Smith and a 19-year-old woman who was friends with him.
Smith died at a local hospital, while the woman, who lives near where the shooting occurred, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was released.
THE ARREST:Despite charges in July quadruple shooting in Knollwood community, neighbors frustrated
It’s unclear who shot Brown, who was also killed during the robbery. And prosecutors have not said who is responsible for shooting an 18-year-old man who later showed up at a local hospital with non-life-threatening wounds.
Following Lecompte’s indictment, neighbors said they weren’t hopeful the arrest would change anything. They said it seems some of the issues have only gotten worse.
But the Building Better Communities initiative, coupled with a program that will be rolled out next week by New Castle County Police – Project Seed – could provide the additional help Knollwood needs.
Police and county officials in recent years have tried to target some of the community’s root issues, participating in multiple clean-up days that involved trash removal, painting areas in the neighborhood and planting flowers.
In addition to routine patrols, police also provided free floodlights to Knollwood and its community center as part of a project to brighten the area. While not a fix-all, studies have shown cameras and lights can reduce crime.
READ:New Castle County police are getting 18 security cameras. Where they’ll go remains unclear
County police also worked in conjunction with code enforcement to conduct an abandoned motor vehicle sweep, where they tagged and towed vehicles that met certain criteria.
Building Better Communities is intended to enhance these efforts and “find out what else we can do outside of public safety and code enforcement,” said C.J Bell, New Castle County’s manager of special projects.
Already, Bell said, the eight-person Building Better Communities commission has been told that parents don’t feel safe sending their kids to Knollwood’s main playground because of drug paraphernalia.
Thus, one of the initiative’s goals will be to get organizations that are already in Knollwood or that “have the capacity to serve” its residents to provide access to a consistently cleaner playground.
Organizations that want to help must be approved through an application process before they receive any grants to implement their services. And as part of the application, they must define tangible goals, outline the steps they will take to achieve the goals and, if approved, provide progress reports each quarter to show results before being allocated additional funds.
“Let’s say you’re asking for $100,000,” Bell said. “You won’t get that up front, you’ll have to do (things) based on your plan and then more funds are disbursed to you. There’s an accountability process that almost guarantees (results).”
Still, Bell said it’s difficult to give a timeline of when Knollwood will see the initiative’s efforts. He also cautioned residents not to expect the county to turn its most underserved neighborhoods into “utopias.”
“There are always going to be issues that may not be able to be solved at the county level,” Bell said, “but we’re definitely going to collaborate with different municipalities to ensure that each neighborhood, just like Knollwood, has the best chance to thrive.”
For more information or to apply for a grant, visit: /nccde.org/2402/Building-Better-Communities.
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