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On behalf of Empower Omaha!
African-American Empowerment
Network
Welcome to our home site!
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AREA OF FOCUS:
Covenant 10: Love our
Neighbor-Stop the Violence
Empowerment Network Crime
Prevention Covenant
Over 100
participated in the Stop the
Violence Conference and Summit
held on Friday,
May 9th and Saturday, May 10th.
Thank you to everyone who took
time to help
develop strategies and generate
new ideas.
The ideas and
recommendations that were
discussed are even more
important today
following a string of violence
in May.
New plans and strategies are in
the works. Get involved.
Everyone has a role to play in
helping to reduce and stop the
violence.
The Empowerment Network Crime
Prevention Covenant is outlined
below.
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Empower Omaha! Crime
Prevention Covenant |
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Implement an
Omaha
Plan - Prevention,
Intervention,
Enforcement, Recovery |
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Prevention: Develop
Stronger Relationships
between Community and
Police |
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Continue
community/police
relationship efforts
already underway |
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School visits,
GREAT Program,
Basketball Programs… |
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Host community
discussions between
community and police |
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Get to know police
that patrol your
neighborhood |
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Host forums to
discuss violence,
prevention and things we
can work on together |
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Teach children how
to interact with the
police |
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Create
opportunities for the
community to interact w/
the police in a positive
way |
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Prevention:
Neighborhood
Partnerships/Adopt-A-Block
Strategies |
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Build Strong
Neighborhood
Associations and Active
Crime Watch Groups |
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Prayer in the Park |
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Block Parties and
other Community Outreach
Efforts |
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Prayer - Outside
in the Church Parking
Lot |
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Adopt-A-Block -
Designate Target Areas
(Map of Churches,
Schools, Parks, Nghbrhd
Assoc) |
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Prayer Walk in
Neighborhoods |
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Neighborhood
Clean-up Efforts |
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Street Teams -
Walk, Engage and Talk |
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Door-to-Door
Outreach - Build
relationships and
identify needs, assets,
vision |
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Bring Needed
Resources and Support to
targeted Neighborhood/to
Homes |
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Partner with
Healthy Family Team
(Parenting, Marriage,
Domestic Violence…) |
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Prevention: Education,
Jobs, Vocational
Training (Partner with
Economics/Education) |
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Adopt-A-School/Partnerships |
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Youth Jobs - School
Year and Summer
(including Stipends) |
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Other Jobs |
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Vocational
Training/Technical
Training |
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Prevention: Youth
Programs - Day, Night,
Summer, School Year
(Partner w/ Education) |
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After School
Programs/Leadership
Academies/Safe
Havens/Computer Training |
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Weekend Programs -
during School Year
(Friday and Saturday) |
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Summer Daytime
Programs |
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Summer Nighttime
Programs |
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Intervention Programs:
Address Truancy (Partner
with Education Team) |
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Address Attendance
and Truancy |
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Partner with
Juvenile Justice Forum
(Juvenile Assessment
Center) |
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Identify Children
in the Probation System
and Detention/ Provide
wrap around support
services |
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Address Mental and
Behavioral Health |
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Address Drug/Abuse
Programs |
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Intervention Programs:
Address Gangs (Partner
with Education Team) |
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Identify gang
members and others
involved in negative
activities |
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Provide gang
intervention strategies
& programs - Provide
Positive Alternatives to
Gangs |
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Enforcement: Community
Involvement in helping
to solve crimes (don't
get it twisted) |
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Ceasefire |
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Get Guns off the
Street |
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Engage the
community |
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Anonymous Phone # |
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Anonymous Tips/Drop
off Box |
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Recovery & Restoration -
Support families and
children impacted by
jails/prisons |
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Programs and
support families and
children impacted by
jails/prisons |
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Cell Adoption
Program |
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Programs and
support for those coming
out of the jail and
prison system |
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Drug &
Alcohol/Chemical
Dependency
Treatment/Behavioral
Support |
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Support
Systems, Faith, Health,
Housing |
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Re-entry
Program/Ex-offender
Programs - State,
County, City |
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2nd Chance Programs |
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Restoration: Economic
and Neighborhood
Development |
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Housing,
Training, Jobs,
Transportation,
Entrepreneurship, etc. |
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Partner with other
churches, businesses &
organizations throughout
the city and region. |
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Stop the Violence Conference
Crime Prevention Summit
Friday, May 9 and Saturday, May
10, 2008
Black Men United, National Hip
Hop Political Convention, ACLU,
Douglas County, Malcolm X
Foundation,
African-American Association
(UNO), Circle of Brotherhood,
and Empowerment Network hosted
the First Stop the Violence
Conference and 2nd Annual Crime
Prevention Summit. The
event attracted over 100
leaders, community advocates and
youth for two days of planning
and networking. Five
national speakers were on hand
to share information, success
stories, and strategies for
reducing youth violence.
Local experts also presented
best practice strategies and
successful ideas.
Elected officials, police
officers, faith leaders,
non-profit organizations, crime
prevention specialists, parents,
students, and others worked
together to generate ideas to
reduce violence.
Strategies are in development
and the Empowerment Network
Crime Prevention Covenant will
be updated to reflect
recommendations from the
national consultants and
speakers. It's time to
work the plan!
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Neighborhood Clean-up
April 26, 2008
The Empowerment Network
partnered with the Highlander,
Prospect Place, and Prospect
Hill Neighborhood Associations
during their annual clean-up
day. Partners from
throughout the city worked
alongside neighbors to fill up
several city dump trucks.
We helped to remove trash,
brush, furniture, and other
items from the neighborhood.
Thanks to all of the volunteers.
Other efforts are being planned
for later this year.
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Rebuilding the Village
Conference
April 4, 2008
On Friday, April
4, 2008, the Empowerment Network
and Empower Omaha! presented the
2nd Annual Rebuilding
the Village Conference. Three
nationally known speakers were
on hand to deliver five
power-packed sessions featuring
real-life examples of how
neighborhoods have been
transformed through
partnerships, networks, and
various community-based
efforts. George Fraser,
President/CEO of FraserNet,
Denise E. Gilmore, President/CEO
of the Jazz District
Redevelopment Corporation
(Kansas City), and Kenneth
Dobson, an international
Community and Economic
Development Consultant, proved
to be an incredible line-up.
A diverse
audience of over 160 leaders and
community advocates,
representing over 70 different
organizations, participated.
All areas of the Empowerment
Covenant were present, including
disciplines of education,
business, faith, crime
prevention, cultural arts,
political empowerment,
economics, housing, youth
development, health, healthy
families, neighborhood
development, and media.
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2007 IN REVIEW
2007 was
quite a year. Empower
Omaha! The Poverty Series.
Building Bright Futures.
LB641. North Omaha Development
Project. Luis Palau. Omaha
20/20. Crime Spikes. Stop the
Violence Initiatives.
Westroads Shooting. Who
could have imagined that all of
these things would happen in
just one year?
December 8, 2007 marked the one
year anniversary since the first
Empowerment Network Community
Summit.
Progress has been made on many
fronts. New partnerships have
been formed. It’s time for all
of us to do our part and take
things to a higher level.
There’s a lot of work ahead.
Since the first community
meeting, over 600 leaders and
community representatives have
contributed to the development
of the Empower Omaha! Covenant.
We’ve worked together and
partnered to support
African-American businesses and
cultural events, led prayer
walks and community outreach
efforts in targeted areas, met
with city leaders and elected
officials to discuss plans to
improve the quality of life in
Omaha, partnered with churches
to launch adopt-a-school and
adopt-a-block strategies, hosted
small and large groups summits
and conferences, presented the
State of African-Americans in
person to over 1,000
individuals, distributed over
3,000 copies of the Empower
Omaha! Covenant, coordinated an
economic networking trip to
Kansas City, and accomplished
many other specific projects.
We have worked to raise the
awareness of the issues faced by
African-Americans and developed
solutions to address those
challenges. Through our
web-site,
www.empoweromaha.com,
participation in parades and
other community events, and
feature stories in the media,
tens of thousands of people have
been exposed to the Empower
Omaha! message.
In 2008, we will
take what we've learned, set
specific goals for each area of
the covenant, continue building
partnerships, and work to make a
tangible, measurable difference
in our community.
Thank you to all
of those who have committed time
and resources to this
initiative. We are on the
move. Get involved and Do
Your Part...Live the Covenant.
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INTRODUCTION to the EMPOWERMENT
NETWORK
African-Americans have made
great progress in many areas.
Through many challenges,
African-Americans have pressed
on and persevered. There are
over 64,000 African-Americans in
the Omaha metro area. We spend
an estimated $700 million
dollars each year. We have
elected officials at the local,
county and state level. We have
administrators, principals and
teachers in our schools. We
have strong churches, large and
small. We have professionals,
business owners and skilled
workers. We have health care
professionals, social
organizations, churches and
others who are working every day
to minister to and help those
who are impacted, yet, in some
areas we are going in the wrong
direction. We have resources,
organizations, ideas, visions,
and much more. We have many
success stories. Yet, we still
lag when it comes to education,
employment, housing, wealth,
health, voting and other core
areas.
(READ MORE...)
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EMPOWERMENT NETWORK COVENANT KICKOFF...
It's time to come together and
work together!
On Friday, April 27, 2007,
The Empowerment Network
launched the first
phase of the Empowerment Covenants and Challenge.
Seven months of planning,
testing, research, forums,
summits and meetings have led to
the creation of a comprehensive
covenant (agreement) that can be
used as a road map towards
positive community solutions.
(READ MORE...)__________________________________
DO YOUR PART...LIVE THE
COVENANT!
Visit the Covenant page on
this site to learn more about
what you can do to make this
covenant a reality. Every
individual, every family and
every leader can do something to
help improve our community.
(COVENANT...)
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TAKE THE CHALLENGE!
Need some specific examples
of how you can "Live the
Covenant?" Go to the Take
Action Now page on this site and
learn more about things you can
do right now to Do Your Part!
(TAKE THE CHALLENGE...)
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WANT TO GET INVOLVED WITH THE
NETWORK?
By working together, we can
make a measurable difference.
Go to the Contact Us page and
send an e-mail if you would like
to learn more about the Network
or if you would like to get
involved! We will need
volunteers to develop and
implement solutions.
(CONTACT PAGE...)
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