This $818K initiative aims to prevent gun violence in Germantown and Mount Airy with street cleaning

As the temperature goes up in the warmer months, gun violence tends to rise with it. But a new initiative starting this summer in Mount Airy and Germantown aims to help gun violence continue to fall in the latter half of the year.

The Safe Steps Northwest initiative will provide weekly cleaning of 335 city blocks in Mount Airy and Germantown with demonstrated histories of gun violence and persistent trash, based upon the city’s public data on shootings and litter. It is funded by a $818,000 grant from the state’s Commission on Crime and Delinquency’s Violence Intervention and Prevention program.

The initiative is a collaboration between Mount Airy CDC, Germantown United CDC, State Sen. Art Haywood (D., Philadelphia), and Glitter, a street cleaning service that will lead the cleanups. The work will begin in June and continue through October. After October, the funding will create subsidies for community members to pay for continued Glitter cleanings on their blocks at reduced rates.

Safe Steps relies upon the conclusions of recent academic studies in Philadelphia, such as one conducted by University of Pennsylvania researchers, that cleaning and fixing up vacant lots and city blocks is correlated with lower rates of gun violence in the surrounding areas.

» READ MORE: Renovating abandoned houses reduces the rate of gun violence, Penn study finds

“It has been proven that blight elimination works to reduce gun violence,” said Haywood, whose district covers Northwest Philadelphia. His office originally proposed the block-cleaning initiative for Northwest Philly and led a pilot program over the summer of 2022, which covered only eight blocks and was funded by private individual donations.

Haywood was encouraged by the results, and is pleased to now have support from the state and Mayor Cherelle L. Parker, who has been supportive of making Philadelphia safer through cleaning efforts.

“We want to do what works, not just have what is the new idea of the day,” Haywood said.

Those leading Safe Steps emphasized that their intention is not to drop cleaning crews into Mount Airy and Germantown that only pick up some trash and move on to the next block. They intend for the initiative to be done in close collaboration with community members and block captains so people can stay informed on the cleanings, as well as learn about other resources that the senator’s office and the CDCs provide.

“We also want people to know what’s happening, to get connected and to work with their neighbors for long term sustainable solutions. There’s [a] project manager [from Glitter] in charge of making sure that neighbors are engaged in each block,” said Philip Dawson, executive director of Mount Airy CDC.

Haywood said that during the pilot initiative, individual community members volunteered to help out after they learned more about what was happening. He hopes that kind of connectivity happens this summer.

» READ MORE: ‘We must have presence on our streets’: Community Peace Patrols are walking through the city to prevent violence

“It’s not just the Glitter program doing the work . And as neighbors join in ... [it] improves the neighborhood fabric. And so this community engagement piece is critical,” he said.

Dawson said that Mount Airy CDC and Germantown United will distribute information to neighbors about the resources they can provide, such as housing resources, and will even throw block parties to continue education and connect with people in a way that’s fit for summer.

“We want to keep people engaged and enhance the pride that they already feel in their blocks and make sure that they are invested in keeping their community safe and beautiful,” he said.

As promising as the data are on this kind of gun violence prevention initiative, Haywood stressed that block cleaning is just one part of the effort that Mount Airy and Germantown will take to make life safer this summer.

He believes that a combination of block cleaning with violence intervention groups, mental health services, job opportunities and other programming is what it will take to significantly reduce gun violence.

“It takes a multipronged effort to create the peace and the safe summer that we desire,” he said.