Greenville, Mississippi was once a vibrant backbone of the Mississippi Delta economy, and to this day, the city remains the region’s hub for access to healthcare, education, employment, and housing. Greenville’s population spiked during the 1990 census with 45,226 residents in the city; today, it is a rural community that hosts intersecting Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) populations. In the thirty years since that spike, the community has contracted to just over 29,000 residents – losing approximately a third of its population. This trend has left the city with a 14.6% housing vacancy rate and a growing inventory of empty businesses and housing. The Greenville community has dealt with a multitude of systematic issues that come with a poverty rate of 20% or more for the past 40 years, including a high incidence of poverty; substandard housing; distressed public housing apartments; neighborhood gangs; limited mobility and transportation systems; and a fractured relationship between the community and police.   

The poverty rate of the geographical focus area is 37.3%, with per capita income at just over $19,520. Housing is also a complex issue within the Central Business District neighborhood, as nearly 21% of all units are vacant. Crime data reveals that some of the most violent crime in Greenville occurs in this district.  

Like most of rural America, especially where rural America intersects with BIPOC populations, Greenville, Mississippi is drastically under-resourced. The tax base that once made Greenville the largest and most vibrant community in the Mississippi Delta has largely left the community with too few taxpayers to adequately fund policing measures, equitable redevelopment, and adequate infrastructure. Greenville operates in a relatively poor state, so it has limited access to public funds and remains one of the most philanthropically underserved regions of the country, thanks in part to limited private foundation support. As a result, the Central Business District neighborhood has substantial limitations in funding to develop and implement sustainable programs to reduce serious and violent crime. 

 An increasing number of individuals no longer view the safety of their neighborhoods as the sole responsibility of the local police department. They are uniting to work with their local government, neighborhood residents, community-based non-profits, workforce development organizations, and community stakeholders to identify and remove the sources of crime, drug use, and youth delinquency in their communities. 

The vision for the Greenville Safety Collaborative Project is to: 

• Verify chronic violent micro-focus area locations.  

• Identify strategies to reduce crime (particularly related to drugs, gang, and gun violence).  

• Engage community stakeholders in trust building with the city, law enforcement, and other partners to identify specific strategies for the community partners to reduce crime.  

The Greenville Safety Collaborative, and its partners, intend to accomplish the following goals and objectives:  

• Create or select a community quarterback, building the capacity of the WCWRA as an anchor community-based organization to coordinate activities during and post-grant completion.  

• Create a transparent process with a focus on information sharing with the GPD, the City of Greenville, and in the planning and development process.  

• Reduce violent crime in the Central Business District neighborhood, specifically gang and gun offenses.  

• Continue to identify crime drivers to assist with strategic planning.  

• Enhance community policing efforts of the GPD by Central Business District neighborhood residents.  

• Increase safe and affordable housing and develop new economic opportunities.  

• Invest and coordinate programming for returning citizens, adjudicated youth, and justice-involved skills seekers to enter career technical education and livable wage employment.  

The Washington County Work Ready Association, the Rural Local Initiative Support Corporation, the Washington County Economic Alliance, the Community Foundation of Washington County, Main Street Greenville, Greater Greenville Housing and Revitalization Association, Inc., Mississippi Delta Community College/The Capps Center, the Greenville Police Department, the Office of the Mayor