Food boxes and resources being distributed. (Photo used with permission from Councilmember Cindy Bass’ office.)

A new safety initiative aims to unify city efforts in preventing violence this summer and beyond.

Kenneth Thompson, Deputy Chief of Staff for Councilmember Cindy Bass, is partnering with Nicetown CDC, the Philadelphia Anti-Drug/Anti-Violence Network (PAAN), and other city organizations to focus on specific blocks in the 8th District as part of the new Back to the Block Initiative.

What does that look like?

As Thompson spoke with other community leaders like Preston Davis, Community Crisis Intervention Program (CCIP) coordinator for PAAN, and Majeedah Rashid, chief operating officer of Nicetown CDC, they saw that keeping blocks clean and making sure neighbors’ quality-of-life needs were met were key factors in preventing violence.

Rashid described incidents where Nicetown CDC worked with police as they apprehended someone, and the person ran through an alley and stashed drugs and paraphernalia. 

“They (the alleyways) are so congested, and they figure nobody’s going to look in there. So keeping them clear is definitely a good preventive measure to ensure that these locations are clean as well as safe,” Rashid said. 

That’s why the Nicetown CDC is working with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS), whose data shows that cleaning vacant lots and alleyways can help reduce gun violence. 

Nicetown CDC works with PHS to run a same-day work-and-pay program that cleans vacant lots and residential blocks and pays $100 for a day’s work, and also has a contract with the Department of Commerce to keep its business corridor clean. 

Thompson is working with the Office of Clean and Green Initiatives to connect with its Alley Gators program and clean alleys on blocks PAAN and other community advocates have flagged as “hot spots” where gun violence and other crimes may be more common. PAAN, in coordination and conversation with the 14th and 35th police departments, has a list of “hot spots” based on crime statistics.

“When we see trash, and we see lack of concern in that space, people start to inherently feel a lack of concern for themselves as well as the community where they’re living,” Thompson said.

Joyce Brooks, president of the Block Captains Committee of Nicetown, believes cleaning alleyways and blocks will surely make a difference. A resident for 57 years, she sees firsthand what happens when trash fills alleyways, often bringing illicit activities and crime.

The initiative pairs alley and block clean-ups with a Friday evening activation, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. PAAN and Thompson connect neighbors to resource tables offering free food distribution, access to Philly Defenders Association services, including possible record expungements, employment and workforce development resources, and more.

The first Back to the Block gathering took place on Friday, June 5, 2026, on the 1900 block of W. Wingohocking Street. The goal is to have weekly gatherings every Friday, but the logistics are still in progress.

“At the end of the day, the whole goal of Back to the Block is to make everybody on that block feel like the government is working for them — from the neighbors who’re concerned about the cleanliness of the area, the trees and their alleyways, to the person on the corner that might feel like they have new opportunities,” Thompson said.

While residents may have heard of some resources, he says, they may not know the full range available. He also wants to include recipients of the Activities Fund that Councilmember Bass’ office awards each summer, inviting them to Back to the Block gatherings so they can offer youth programs, activities, and other supports.

From her perspective as both president of the Block Captain Committee of Nicetown and a minister, Joyce Brooks says she is sure that bringing resources directly to blocks will prevent violence.

She told GIH: “It has to go into these pockets of these neighborhoods, whether Cindy Bass’ district or Gaultier’s district or whatever district you are in. I’m willing to do that — to shut this street down right here in my block and have all that information come to us.”

These efforts build on Thompson’s “Playing it Safe in the 8th” vision, in which recreation centers throughout the district served as community hubs where police officers, community organizers, and program providers worked together to try to ensure youth were safe in and around the centers.

Preston Davis helped shape the idea with Thompson at a recent PAAN event. During a memorial service on a block, PAAN advocates swept people’s steps, handed out food, including water ice and snacks, and talked with neighbors about what they needed.

“Right now, we got to get the community more engaged… the community has to take back their neighborhoods,” Davis said.

He says the police can’t prevent violence alone. He stresses that parents, neighbors, and other community members must work together to ensure they know where kids are, what they are doing, and partner with community organizers to defuse conflicts before they turn violent.

He believes the Back to the Block gatherings can help build these kinds of relationships, rebuild trust, and get people working together to keep their blocks safe.

Davis and Thompson say relationships come first. Thompson is working with community advocates, block captains, neighbors, and government officials to ensure that everyone is on board. They won’t show up on a block without notice and without everyone’s consent.

“I think a lot of times in government, the government comes as the savior instead of the partner, or maybe perceived to come as ‘people, I’m here to save you,’ instead of the partner. And I think that’s where the disconnect happens a lot,” Thompson said.

That can make planning slower, Thompson acknowledges, but he believes it builds the trust necessary for neighbors to work with organizers. As the initiative gains more momentum, Thompson hopes to create a template for it to expand beyond the 8th District and continue citywide.

They hope to clean at least 40 alleyways by the end of the summer.

After initial cleanings, follow-up will include staying in touch with neighbors on their list and letting them know updates on the city’s resources, and other governmental office information. While they are coming to the blocks, they collect everyone’s contact information.

If half of the people they interact and engage with follow up with them on the resources they connect them to, Thompson says that is one of the factors he and PAAN see as a success.

The other, of course, would be to see fewer shooting incidents this summer.

A Germantown-area Back to the Block gathering is soon to come, with details to be announced on Councilmember Bass’ social media channels.

Maleka Fruean is Germantown Info Hub’s community organizer, a writer, and mother of four, all raised in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia. She has a B.A. in journalism from Temple University and an M.F.A. in creative writing from St. Joseph’s University, and uses both to embrace the power of stories.