Weed & Seed
is growingThe Kalihi-Palama/Chinatown
site is expanding
Oahu's Weed & Seed program has proved to be so successful that it is expanding into new neighborhoods.
The new Weed & Seed area will enlarge the first site in Kalihi-Palama/Chinatown to include an area bordered by Ala Moana, Kaheka, Sheridan and South King streets and also Kalihi Valley, U.S. Attorney Ed Kubo announced yesterday.
The residents of the area -- slightly more than 58,000 -- will be under the protection of the federal Weed & Seed program. That will include students at Farrington and McKinley high schools and more than half of Oahu's public-housing residents.
The federal Weed & Seed program is a two-step process that aims to rebuild neighborhoods. Police reduce crime by "weeding" out drugs and gangs, while community members "seed" the neighborhood with prevention, intervention and revitalization. Crimes in Weed & Seed areas are subject to harsher penalties because they may be deemed federal offenses.
Waipahu and Ewa are the other two Weed & Seed sites on Oahu.
There has been a 70 percent drop in crime in Kalihi-Palama/Chinatown in the five years it has been a Weed & Seed site, Kubo said.
The success of the Kalihi-Palama/Chinatown Weed & Seed has persuaded the program's National Executive Office to expand the local program.
But several supporters believe that enlarging the boundaries is only the first step.
"Restoring a neighborhood takes a lot of work. It takes someone donating a building," said Dolores Mollring, who wants to see more community centers for children.
"We need to get more of the gangs to socialize and work together. You can be in a gang and still do good things," Mollring said. "I may be in a dream world, but that's what I would like to see."
Maile Kanemaru, executive director of Weed & Seed Hawaii, highlighted the importance of the community, which she said drives the "seeding" part of neighborhood restoration.
"Community members know what the problems are. They are coming to us and saying, 'We want to make a difference. Tell us what to do,'" she said.
"But you don't have to live in a federal agency site to drive crime out of your neighborhood," Kanemaru said. "Teach each other to be caring, neighbor to neighbor, street by street."
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