GAME CHANGER - community renovation project to create safer spaces in inner-city

The basketball court in Majesty Gardens, St Andrew, was largely undeveloped when 31-year-old Andre Moore started playing the game there about two decades ago.

However, he said the long hours he spent on the fenceless “rockie rockie” court in the inner-city community not only honed his skills in the sport, but also effectively steered him away from juvenile delinquency.

It is why Moore was pleased that the court, which has undergone some level of renovation over the years, is now set to receive a comprehensive upgrade under the Comm-Unity Resilience and Transformation (CREATE) Project Community Space Renovation Initiative.

The programme, which is being implemented by the Pan American Development Foundation in partnership with the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), will renovate community facilities in four communities across Jamaica at a cost of $36.8 million each.

The aim is to create safer, more accessible spaces that support youth development, strengthen community resilience, and help reduce crime and violence through crime prevention through environmental design.

‘More fun ... less crime’

Moore acknowledged the importance of social intervention programmes in communities like his.

“The more activities yuh have a di less di yute dem go out there and do bad tings. The more activities yuh have help dem fi push demself … the more fun is here, a di less crime,” he reasoned.

The father of two told The Gleaner that, as a member of the Majesty Gardens basketball team, he has witnessed firsthand the impact of sustained programmes on residents.

“It bring a lot to the community, this mek people weh even cya walk want to come down the stairs and siddung in wheelchair and watch,” he said.

Speaking at the launch of the CREATE project’s community space renovation initiative, Majesty Gardens Community Development Committee President Jahiem Mitchell stressed that crime prevention is not built through enforcement alone. He said the multipurpose court is an integral piece of community infrastructure that serves as a hub for social initiatives.

Mitchell said the court is being renovated at the perfect time and pledged to ensure its upkeep.

Meanwhile, Kimberley Seymour Brown, Project CREATE coordinator, noted that work on the court is expected to be completed by September. It will include resurfacing, fencing, the installation of new hoops and solar lights, as well as renovation of the driveway.

Similar projects will also take place in Parade Gardens in Kingston, Grange Hill in Westmoreland, and Norwood in St James, with completion expected in January.

She emphasised that the CREATE project is a broad social intervention initiative.

“While we are working to improve community spaces, in terms of the physical spaces, we are working with approximately 100 youth in each target community and delivering to them a suite of targeted multidimensional intervention,” she said.

This includes support for vocational skills training, business development, life-skills programming, and cognitive behavioural therapy.

“We actually have a team of psychologists who are in the communities once per week who provide individual psychological sessions to young people who have been referred by their care managers as either in need of psychological support, or they themselves have said we have some things going on and would like to meet with a psychologist,” she said.

She noted that the project has been ongoing for more than two years and involves government, private-sector, and civil-society partners.

Trained in crime prevention

While acknowledging that crime prevention takes time, Seymour Brown said the programme is already producing results.

“Of the 100 highest risks youth that we offered our cognitive behavioural therapy programme to, their assessment at the end showed significant reduction in aggression and an increase in pro-social attitudes.”

Additionally, she said that more than 200 stakeholders have been trained in crime prevention.

In the meantime, Assistant Commissioner of Police in the Community Safety and Security Branch of the JCF, Charmaine Shand, said the myriad issues affecting youth in inner-city communities cannot be effectively addressed through isolated efforts, but require strategic partnerships.

She lauded the CREATE initiative for addressing many of the structural drivers of social instability and said its impact is already being felt in communities.

“Residents are acquiring marketable skills, they’re strengthening their entrepreneurial capacity; they are improving their economic prospects and building greater confidence in their ability to contribute meaningfully to community development,” she said.

National Security Minister Dr Horace Chang stressed the importance of government and non-government organisations working together to address crime.

Meanwhile, Scott Renner, US Embassy chargé d’affaires in Jamaica, lauded the island for making progress in crime reduction but noted that lasting security is built in communities, underscoring the importance of initiatives such as CREATE.

“It really shows a shared commitment between the United States and Jamaica to combat crime,” he said.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com