Our Mission      

Weed                       

• Increase our communications with our neighbors in the Weed and Seed area to learn your needs, improve trust and build partnerships.
• A Drug Market Intervention Initiative will be used to improve neighborhood conditions and repair deep racial divisions in the community.
• The Huntington Police Department will increase bike patrols in the area to foster relationships between officers and neighbors.
• They will also use the Mounted Patrol in the Weed and Seed area. This unique sight will help to encourage communication through interaction with the horses. Temporary stalls will be located at the Weed and Seed office and residents will be encouraged to visit and interact with the Mounted Patrol officers.
• Police officers will attend monthly meetings of the Neighborhood Association groups in the Weed and Seed area and give a series of presentations intended to enable community members to avoid being victims of crime.
• Reducing illegal drug sales by developing effective programs that respond to the illegal drug markets and the associated crime and violence.

Seed                       

• Provide neighborhood stabilization by improving the quality and visual appearance of properties in the Weed and Seed area.
• Develop a board up program to secure vacant properties following the guidelines established by HUD. The City Fire Marshal has been assigned to the project and is providing for enforcement. Property owners are given 30 days to board up the structures in accordance with the guidelines. If the owner neglects to do the work, the Fire Marshal has the work done and a lien is placed on the property.
• “Weed and Seed Reentry Employment Initiative” - To provide    ex-offenders with job skills, vocational training, GED, literacy, and higher education that will enable them to become productive citizens and identify employers willing to hire ex-offenders.
• The Kanawha Institute for Social Research and Action, Inc. (KISRA), a non-profit, faith-based organization will serve as the primary lead agency in helping us to develop, expand and implement our Weed and Seed Re-Entry Employment Initiative, which is to provide ex-offenders with job skills that will enable them to become productive citizens.

To see details of Huntington's implementation of the Weed and Seed program, click here to view the report in .pdf format.

To see a map of the target area for the Weed and Seed, click here to view the .pdf map.