By: Kara Drapala, Lauren Handler, Jamie Harris, Brooke Houle, Pat Morris, Alex Schnulle, & Elyse Siwinski

Called “Mexico of the Midwest”

90,000 residents Over half the

population is under 25

Two major gangs: Two Six Nation and Latin Kings

Latin King and Two-Six graffiti divides Little Village, marking each gang’s territories

Children in Little Village learn at an early age what gang runs their side of town

More brown paint trucks than blasting trucks Patchwork paint attracts reoccurring graffiti

vandalism Graffiti Blasting slow to respond

Enlace is a non-profit organization based in Little Village

They strive to improve the lives of families in the community through four initiatives: Education Violence Prevention Cultural Enrichment Economic Development

Little Village Our Village: No Boundaries.

To help Enlace, we created three main objectives:

Putting pressure on city officials Increasing community participation Increasing educational programs

Community petition Quicker Graffiti Blaster Response Increase Amount of Blasting Trucks

Community letters to the Alderman asking for assistance

Empower community members

Monitor how many community members sign the petition

Long term: Watch for improvements in graffiti blaster program Where more blasting trucks added? Was there a quicker response time?

Community Task Force Meetings begin January 3, 2011 Meet1st and 3rd Monday each month Funding from New Life Community Church collection

plates for prevention kits

Assemble graffiti prevention kits which will include: Rust-Oleum Graffiti prevention tips A list of important community phone numbers An Enlace window cling Coupons for local businesses

Each meeting will have a sign-in sheet Our goal is to have 20 consistently

participating task force members

Partner with CPD to add “Graffiti Hurts” curriculum to D.A.R.E. program

Increase awareness of the problem at a young age to fight against the acceptance of the graffiti

“Adopt-A-Wall” days through Boys and Girls Club and Gary Elementary School

Administer “Graffiti Hurts” quiz before and after the program D.A.R.E essay Evaluate essay and quiz

Long term: See how many children participate in “Adopt-A-Wall” after school program

Tools to begin the campaign Fact Sheet about campaign Informational Sheet on Graffiti Prevention

Kits and Important numbers Backgrounder Press Release about campaign Fact Sheet about community task force

meetings Sponsorship Letters

Graffiti issue in Little Village is very complicated and has many layers

Through this campaign we hope to give Enlace and Little Village community members tools to combat this problem

It is our greatest hope that through this campaign community members will finally feel as though they can say Little Village is Our Village and there will be No Boundaries