Cheers!

They noticed that the North Central Population obviously had artistic kids that did a lot of Graffiti. They also had a huge problem with back alley garbage cans being burnt down.

The solution was to combine the two problems. They allowed the kids to spray paint the garbage bins. In turn what used to be a victimless crime of burning down garbage cans now possessed a human element which drove down garbage can burning and graffiti in the area dropped dramatically as well. Regina got it right. Now to bad that was years ago and we never really heard much about it.

It’s time for round two Jeff , and that’s you
Zink´s last blog ..Dashboard Confessional – Alter the ending

I’m not one to agree that coercion is a workable solution, but it seems to me that a partnership between the venture and the justice system would increase the chance of success for this idea. At present, offenders are allowed (and in most cases, “lovingly coerced”) to engage in alternative measures programs (many of which mirror the concept you are purporting)

I think funneling some of those youth into a venture such as yours would accomplish several objectives:

1) Provision of a certain level of manpower for the project

2) Fostering (hopefully) a sense of pride in one’s neighborhood at the completion of said projects

3) Repeat Volunteers – We want these youth out of the cycle of “destroy property, end up in court, repeat” and into “rebuild property, end up with life skills, repeat”

It’s not an easy task; you need the right person. As you’ve stated (and I agree), you need someone:

a) Committed and willing to help the neighborhood in question

b) With the skillset needed to effectively manage such a venture

Cheers.