Place-Based Violence Intervention Project

Background

In March 2024, the Safe Blocks Program received a $2 million Federal Byrne Grant to fund place-based community violence intervention programming over four years in Portland's Hazelwood, Eliot, and Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhoods. This amounts to approximately $500,000 available in each neighborhood, or about $125,000-$133,000 per neighborhood per year, with projects expected to continue through 2028.

Why these locations?

The Hazelwood, Eliot, and Powellhurst-Gilbert neighborhoods suffer from historical disinvestment as well as high rates of violent crime and disproportionate levels of social vulnerability.  

What will our projects look like?

Our projects will involve neighborhood beautification efforts, street paintings, and public art. Our focus is on placemaking projects, which seek to increase safety and build community. We aim to develop projects that have a strong community visioning process so that residents can make personal connections as part of creating public art. Projects such as street murals, graffiti clean-ups, and community gardens invest in the physical environment and reduce crime and violence without additional policing. By having communities lead these events, we build welcoming spaces and activities that work for them and strengthen their connection to local government.

Byrne grant strategic priorities

We have developed a number of strategic priorities to help guide how we intend to utilize the Byrne grant. We will post updates to upcoming competitive funding opportunities. We will also send email updates as we approach important milestones; interested parties can sign up for updates.

A total of $1,100,000 is available in the following areas:

• Community-Initiated Projects - $300,000 (27%)
  • This is a competitive grant process where community members and groups develop projects that will implement place-based interventions to gun violence.
  • We anticipate grant amounts between $5,000-$50,000.
• Direct Contracts - $245,000 (23%)
  • These are contracts under $10,000 and can be awarded non-competitively.
  • The benefit of these contracts is their flexibility to partner with different organizations and contractors to accomplish programmatic goals on a relatively fast timeline.
• Major Placemaking Projects - $200,000 (18%)
  • These include Gilbert Park Elementary school placemaking project, Eliot Neighborhood placemaking Project, Menlo Park Elementary school placemaking project, and Ventura Park Elementary school placemaking project.
  • These projects were scoped in partnership with school administrators and allow us to have strong partnerships with neighborhood anchors (schools) to develop and implement public art that is participatory in design and implementation.
  • These projects were competitively bid spring 2026 and projects will commence January 2027.
• Sidewalk Art - $200,000 (18%)
  • This project will install community art, at scale, on public sidewalks in Byrne grant neighborhoods. We have initiated a competitive RFP process that is expected to go live November 2026.
  • The contractor will work with community members to develop public art stencils and install these in approximately 25-40 locations within the three Byrne grant neighborhoods.
• City bureau partnerships - $90,000 (8%)
  • These are projects where a placemaking need has been identified but it makes more sense for another city bureau to lead the project.
  • So far this has included working with Portland Parks & Recreation to install bollards at Dawson Park to prevent vehicle access for $40,000.
  • Another anticipated project is a wayfinding program in Eliot in partnership with the Portland Bureau of Transportation for $50,000.
• CPTED Implementation - $65,000 (6%)
  • This category of funds would be for high crime and violence areas to address emerging issues with properties that have, or will, engage with our office on a CPTED (crime prevention through environmental design) assessment.
  • This fills a gap in the public safety space because we are not aware of another city bureau with a funding source to address issues that are wholly on private property but have a strong nexus to influencing the public realm.

How will projects be selected?

The projects selected to move forward will be those that:

• Invest in the physical environment;
• Reduce violence; and
• Actively involve community members in the design and development of the projects.

Safe Blocks will consider proposals that support efforts like public art creation, cultural events, place transformation, green spaces, youth programs, and other opportunities identified by the community.

How will we measure success?

The Safe Blocks program strives to impact three key measures of community safety:

• A reduction in shooting incidents;
• Reduced calls for police service; and
• Increased feelings of safety among residents.

Project evaluation will be based on information collected in surveys, interviews, community engagement, and relevant crime statistics. 

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