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Brooklyn Community Safety Partners Win National Award

9 Oct 2008

MetLife Foundation Community-Police Partnership Award Honors Dwa Fanm and the New York City Police Department

Brooklyn, NY (October 9, 2008)– Dwa Fanm and the New York City Police Department (NYPD) were honored this week by MetLife Foundation for significant accomplishments in reducing violence and improving quality of life for Caribbean and African immigrant women in Brooklyn. April Hawkins, Director of MetLife Foundation's Civic Affairs Program, and Michael Rubinger, President and CEO of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), presented the MetLife Foundation Community-Police Partnership Award at a ceremony at the Cadman Plaza Library in downtown Brooklyn. Farah Tanis, Executive Director of Dwa Fanm, Chief Kathy Ryan of the NYPD, Commissioner Yolanda B. Jimenez of the OCDV, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes and 40th District Councilman Mattheu Eugene were also present to celebrate the Haitians Against Violence At Home Precinct project.

The awards, sponsored by MetLife Foundation and administered by LISC, recognize partnerships between community organizations and police departments that have reduced crime and spurred community building, economic activity, and improved services in low- and moderate-income communities. Dwa Fanm and the NYPD were selected from more than 500 applicants to receive the only award in the Diversity Inclusion & Integration category. Dwa Fanm will receive a $15,000 grant to sustain its community safety program and partnership with the NYPD.

"Community groups and police departments share a common goal: creating safe, livable communities," said Sibyl Jacobson, president of MetLife Foundation. "Dwa Fanm and the NYPD provide an exemplary model of partnership, and we are pleased to join LISC in recognizing their results and sharing their best practices with others groups across the country."

Dwa Fanm pioneered the first partnerships with police ever to exist in the Haitian and other Caribbean immigrant communities of New York City on behalf of victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and human trafficking. Working with the Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence (OCDV), the partners both stepped out of traditional comfort zones to communicate and share resources to build mutually trusting relationships between criminal justice personnel and immigrant community members.

Their efforts, which have included police roll call trainings on black immigrant cultures and outreach to women about how to seek help from the criminal justice system, have borne results. Victims are reporting better communication with police and police, in turn, are receiving more reports of crime from community members. Both are important stepping stones to improved safety for immigrant families.

"Collaboration is never easy, but Dwa Fanm and the NYPD have overcome particularly difficult barriers to work together to achieve a common goal," said Julia Ryan, director of the Community Safety Initiative (CSI), the national LISC program that administers the awards. "Their program strategy is a model worthy of replication in other communities."

The Dwa Fanm-NYPD partnership has already expanded from one to five precincts in Brooklyn, and prompted an invitation for Dwa Fanm to represent Brooklyn's domestic violence service providers at the President's Family Justice Center.

"We launched our Precinct Project initiative because a critical void existed where collaborations could be developed between grassroots community organizations and police precincts to assist battered women," said Farah Tanis, Dwa Fanm Executive Director. "As they say in my Haitian culture 'soufrans yon fanm se soufrans tout fanm', which means, 'the plight of one woman, is the plight of all women.' The same can be said for our victories and accomplishments. Today, I believe the movement to end violence against women as a whole has made leaps because of collaborations like Precinct Projects."

LISC is the nation's leading community development support organization. Since 1980, LISC has marshaled more than $8.6 billion from 3,100 investors, lenders and donors to support the transformation of troubled neighborhoods into communities of choice and opportunity. In New York City, LISC has facilitated the development of nearly 30,000 affordable homes and apartments, as well as 1.5 billion square feet of commercial space and community facilities. LISC established CSI in 1994 to help address persistent crime and disorder problems in neighborhoods through strategic alliances between community developers and police. More information on CSI can be found at www.lisc.org/csi.

MetLife Foundation, established by MetLife in 1976, is a long-time supporter of LISC’s community revitalization programs. In 1994, the Foundation made a $1 million leadership grant to pilot the CSI. MetLife and the Foundation have also made below-market rate loans and grants of almost $76 million to the organization. MetLife Foundation supports health, education, civic and cultural programs throughout the United States. For more information about the Foundation, visit www.metlife.org.

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Article Type: Press Release