Shiloh pounds pavement for safety

By Herbert Johnson

Just the other day Joanne Timberlake, a North Minneapolis resident, witnessed a drug deal in her yard. Racheal Babbitt, who works at a homeless shelter right across the street, was harassed by a man who seemed drunk. Tanden Brekke, who lives a few blocks away, said there have been two homicides close to his house within the last two years he has been living over in North Minneapolis.

All these events happened within a ten-block radius of Shiloh Temple International Ministries, a church located in the heart of North Minneapolis. It’s because of events like this that Shiloh has been given the large task of creating a safety zone around these blocks.

The goal of this project is not only to diminish the violence in the area, but also to establish and address the needs of the neighborhood. This is the first time Shiloh has done something like the Safe Zone project.

Shiloh Temple started out as a storefront church in South Minneapolis in 1931. Since its arrival on W. Broadway in 2004, Shiloh has become a popular and important place in North Minneapolis.

The Shiloh Safe Zone, which started out as an area within a ten-block radius of the church, has grown into a 15-block radius. The program has reached more than 458 homes located in as many as 100 city blocks.

Since early June, Andre Dukes, pastor of Shiloh Temple, and 40 volunteers have gone door-to-door visiting stable homes and crack houses alike to spread their message of peace.

Dukes said most people have shown the volunteers respect and were willing to listen to what the volunteers had to say.

“The whole mission of the Shiloh Temple [Safe] Zone is to maintain a safe environment, reduce the violence here in North Minneapolis, but most importantly to provide an alternative for young people,” Dukes said.

According to Dukes, the church has found jobs for 14 teens so far.

Lt. Bryan Schafer, who heads the Minneapolis Police Department’s new Juvenile Unit, praised the church for its involvement.

“They’re taking back the community,” he said. “I’m hoping every faith-based organization on the north side…will take a step forward and do the exact same thing.”

The idea of the Shiloh safe zone was introduced by the mayor’s office. According to Sherman Patterson, an aide to Mayor R. T. Rybak, it was a choice that made the most sense.

“Since [Shiloh] has arrived in North Minneapolis it has been really committed to being part of the community,” said Patterson. “They’ve also been extending their tentacles outside of the wall of the church.”

The Safe Zone project is part of a bigger movement to keep North Minneapolis safe. One part of the movement is the Blueprint for Action, a project introduced by Mayor R. T. Rybak and group of experts, which included Minneapolis City Council members, community leaders, and public safety experts. The goal of this project is to stop youth violence in Minneapolis.

Along with the Safe Zone, Shiloh Temple has also been serving the community in other ways such as holding a five-week diversion program for first-offender teens and providing youth with summer activities.

“I believe it has already had an effect,” said Andrea Thomas, a volunteer at Shiloh. “Ever since [the safety zone] started crime, has decreased by 15 percent.”

In the first six months of 2008, crime is down 17 percent in north Minneapolis and 14 percent city wide.