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“Come Together and Make a Statement That This is our Home”: A Case Study of Grassroots Organization Investment in West Harlem
The community sees that we are people like them and have an opportunity to help them. A lot of the community is uplifted and are volunteering to help—they’ve been very motivated.
In the Cuny Institute for State and Local Governance, the Tayshana “Chicken” Murphy Foundation, Osborne’s West Harlem Restoration and Reentry Project partner, discusses the unique role grassroots organizations have as agents of social change and partners in the creation of public safety.
The partnership between the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and grassroots organizations to develop and implement WHCRRP is a great example, says Murphy, of why it is important for government and system actors to work with grassroots organizations. In doing so, Murphy explains, the DA’s office is learning more about how partnerships with community organizations can advance public safety and how addressing underlying economic instability and social poverty (e.g., low levels or education, availability of services, etc.) can serve that shared goal. By working together to change the social norms in the community that contribute to unlawfulness and violence, Murphy states, the DA’s office and its partners are giving people hope through WHCRRP.
Read the full article here.