Street Outreach
Anti-Asian hate, decreased economic activity, and property crimes have kept merchants and community members in many parts of the city on edge. Business owners especially worry about whether thefts and property damage will push them out of business. To support merchants and the general community, the outreach team regularly walks through major economic corridors in nine neighborhoods to check in with merchants and other community members.
Credit: CYC
Outreach team members distribute safety resources, such as victims services fliers and safety whistles, and ask how community members have been doing. In these conversations, the outreach team learns about recent incidents or emerging concerns and connects merchants with resources. These resources can help merchants repair their storefronts, contributing to a sense of cleanliness and order. Over time, community members come to recognize the faces of the outreach team members as people who are here to help, contributing to a sense of safety.
Main Program Components
Regular Neighborhood Walks
Repeated interactions with the outreach team allows them to become familiar and trusted leaders. On any given merchant corridor walk, the outreach team may be greeted warmly by multiple merchants and employees who know their faces. Trust helps merchants, staff, and other community members tell the outreach team about incidents that they did not report to the police. The team can help merchants share information about trends in thefts and provide tips on how to keep valuables more secure.
Proactive Resource Referrals
In addition to offering resources when people tell them about incidents, the outreach team will proactively monitor the corridors for new property damage. If they see new property damage, they will reach out to the business owner to help them apply for city funds to repair the damage. Merchants may be too busy with the day-to-day of managing their business that they do not have time to address a broken window. Or they may feel that the required paperwork is too burdensome. Without proactive assistance, property damage would remain in public view for longer, creating a sense of disorder and dampening tourism and other commercial activity.
Community Workshops and Tabling
In addition to community visits, the Outreach Team organizes workshops on safety topics, such as bystander intervention, and holds booths at community events to distribute resources and information.
Keys to Success
Frequency and Consistency
Merchants see hundreds of faces a week, which makes it hard to remember the outreach team. On top of that, there may be different staff members present at a business during each visit. So, frequent and consistent visits, at least once a week, can help merchants and staff recognize outreach team members over time.
Hiring from the Community
Hiring staff with existing community ties can enhance relationship-building. For example, one outreach team member was a familiar face to merchants because they frequent the local YMCA in their personal time. This staff member also had an acquaintance working at a neighborhood restaurant, so he was able to be welcomed by the restaurant’s staff and could talk about uncomfortable issues, such as tip stealing that they did not report to law enforcement.
Physical Goodies
The outreach team passes out many different types of items with the team logo and, space permitting, a phone number to call for assistance. When you provide physical gifts, merchants and community members are more willing to engage with you, though you may have to clarify that these items are free and address fears of scams. The goodies are also physical reminders of the outreach team’s visit. Even if they do not remember the particular visit, community members may remember that the logo and phone number represent people who can help them after an incident.
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