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Trudy Bodenbach, a Greenville College student working on her master’s thesis, and Robert Stephan joined together to start a project to research the needs of the women working on our streets and start working toward solutions. Soon after, a committee was formed that includes residents, the Weed & Seed Community Justice Coordinator for Madison County Probation and Court Services, service providers and the faith-based community. Recently this committee agreed on a new name for itself, HOPE (Healthy Options for Positive Environments), and is working toward forming a nonprofit organization. Among the goals that HOPE has set are providing street outreach, education and awareness and creating a gender-specific treatment option. One option is the Womens Alcoholic Rehabilitation Community Home (ARCH) Project.
A strategy to eliminate open prostitution in the Weed & Seed Neighborhoods
In response to citizens’ concerns in the Weed & Seed neighborhoods, the Alton Police Department – working together with other law enforcement agencies including the Illinois State Police, Madison County Sheriff’s Department, and the Granite City Police Department – continues to crack down on street-level prostitution and related crimes. Residents and business owners have been greatly affected by the detrimental effects of these activities in our community.
In June of 2003, the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office, through the Community Prosecution Grant that worked in conjunction with the Weed and Seed Strategy, convened a Special Grand Jury that resulted in the indictment of 35 individuals for prostitution-related offenses that included 21 “johns”. The Grand Jury heard testimony from residents, police officers, judges, prostitutes, reformed prostitutes, “johns” (those patronizing prostitutes), public health officials and others, that revealed that prostitution is not “a victimless crime” as many would say, but, instead, many are victimized by these activities.
A Special Report of the Grand Jury offered recommendations for consideration that could help to alleviate this complex issue.
Testimony provided to the Special Grand Jury revealed that many prostitutes “were drug-addicted and did not have the ability to stop their drug habit or prostitution trade without intervention by others.” Also, law enforcement efforts alone could cause the displacement of these activities rather than reduce them, which law enforcement agencies and others agree is undesirable.
Also, the complexity of the issues surrounding women used in prostitution should be considered. In addition to drug treatment, other considerations include mental and physical health, education and job training.
You Can Help
The Alton Weed & Seed Strategy sponsored a community prostitution strategy development workshop March 30, 2004 that brought together various community stakeholders including those from the criminal justice field, judiciary, residents, and social services. Women in recovery were also welcome and needed. Read The Telegraph story here.
The workshop was facilitated by William Nelson, Director of Correctional Services for Volunteers of America (VOM) of Minnesota in Minneapolis. The programs that Mr. Nelson has supervised have won nine national awards. Mr. Nelson has been portrayed on the PBS series, The Visionaries, narrated by Sam Waterston. He also hosts a cable TV talk show dealing with criminal justice and community issues entitled, Creative Solutions. He has developed a unique program designed to get prostituted women off the streets and has spoken of its unique design in worldwide venues.
For more information on HOPE, including meeting dates and times, please contact Denise Floyd at 210-4905. For more information on the workshop or other items covered in this article, please contact Jennifer Campbell, Alton Weed & Seed Community Justice Coordinator, at 463-5357.
HOPE meets every other Thursday of the month and welcomes others interested in joining this effort.
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