Building safe, vibrant, livable neighborhoods in Cascade County for
over 10 years!

Great Falls Weed & Seed Becomes
NWGF Community Building Program

Operation Medicine Cabinet: Central Montana Team

Great Falls Weed and Seed (GFWS), begun in Great Falls in 2002, became the NeighborWorks Great Falls (NWGF) Community Building program in 2012, when our second Weed and Seed site completed its five-year term. 

The "Weed and Seed" program was a U.S. Department of Justice community revitalization strategy that encouraged communities to "weed" out violent crime, gang activity, drug use and drug trafficking and "seed" the area's neighborhoods with social and economic revitalization.

First federally designated in 2002, GFWS was one of only two sites in Montana. (The other site was on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Lame Deer, MT.)

GFWS, and now the NWGF Community Building program, serves as a catalyst to connect people, resources and organizations to build safe, vibrant and livable neighborhoods in historic Great Falls and Black Eagle.  The program is guided by the former GFWS Steering Committee, now called the NWGF Community Building Steering Committee. 

The Steering Committee is a public-private partnership of city, county and federal agencies, NeighborWorks Great Falls, human service organizations and area residents.  The U.S. Attorney for the State of Montana, Mike Cotter, is the honorary chair of the Steering Committee.  Through these collaborative efforts, the Steering Committee engages residents in the target neighborhoods to  identify and address unmet neighborhood needs and gaps in services. Building on the residents identified assets, need and gaps in service, the national NeighborWorks America Community Building goals and those of the NWGF Strategic and work plans, the Committee then recommends programmatic goals for NWGF's Community Building line of business.

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News & Updates

Neighborhood & Business Watch

NeighborWorks Great Falls Community Building program is now the countywide coordinator for Cascade County Neighborhood and Business Watch!  Here is the latest schedule of Neighborhood Council Meetings where PD participates, plus the outstanding Business Watch Training sessions.

Coins for a Cause

Great Falls Weed and Seed is spearheading a new plan to help curb panhandling and improve safety in Great Falls. Coins for a Cause encourages people to donate their spare change to collection sites at local businesses around the city.

At the sites, donors can pick up business cards that have contact information for direct service provider charities, such as the Rescue Mission, that they will give to panhandlers in lieu of their change. Read the press release here and more about the program on KRTV.

Contact Us

For more information about GFWS or the NeighborWorks Great Falls Community Building program, contact the Program Coordinator, Carol Bronson, or AmeriCorps VISTAs Jill Jennings or Bethany Salmon at 406-761-9537.

Their offices are located at NeighborWorks Great Falls, 509 1st Avenue South, Great Falls, MT 59401.