While community leaders in Sharon and Farrell contemplate applying for a state Weed and Seed grant, officials from two Weed and Seed communities offer simple words of encouragement: Go for it.

The mayors of Sharon and Farrell have expressed a willingness to apply, and although the councils of each city have not officially endorsed the idea, a committee has been formed to fill out the application.

The applications will be released this month, said Olive Brown, co-chairwoman of the anti-drug coalition Endorse Resistance of All Substance Abuse Everywhere.

ERASE has pushed for a Weed and Seed program and invited Weed and Seed’s director, Carl Anderson, to a February ERASE meeting.

The three-year state Weed and Seed grant helps provide for a police crackdown on crime within a target area -- removing the weeds, so to speak -- and creation of programs to address problems in the community to revitalize it -- planting the seeds.

A key to Weed and Seed is the priority status the designation gives a community in seeking other state help.

Officials in the cities of York and Chester said Weed and Seed has helped them revitalize areas and develop a community-wide approach to problems.

York, which is in the last year of its Weed and Seed funding, focused its efforts on a 60-block area of 7,000 people with 51 percent of the city’s drug-related crime. Eighty-four percent of the housing was rental.

"It was a priority because it was a gateway to the city," said Samantha Dorm, Weed and Seed program coordinator in York.

Weed and Seed starts with an unannounced law enforcement crackdown that involves local, county and state officials, and sometimes federal authorities.

Ms. Dorm said residents were wary of the crackdown -- known as Operation Triggerlock -- and heightened police visibility.

"It hadn’t been explained to them that help is on the way," she said.

That wariness turned to fear when the crackdown’s efforts became public.

"There were a lot of people who were surprised by the kinds of weapons that were coming out of homes," she said, referring primarily to assault rifles. "When you see it coming from your neighbor’s house, it’s pretty scary."

With the formal announcement in April 1999 that York was a Weed and Seed community, efforts turned to righting the problems that made the area a haven for drugs and crime.

York picked these concerns to focus on: safety, education, leadership and community and economic development.

The city instituted drug courts to try to divert adults and juveniles from the traditional criminal justice system, treatment programs for people with drug and alcohol problems, a pedestrian safety initiative, all-day kindergarten, Head Start and truancy, general equivalency diploma and job training programs.

The Weed part of the program showed tangible results: a 99-percent conviction rate and a 51-percent drop in drug-related crime.

The Seed initiatives grow slowly, and that can be a public relations problem.

"You’re not going to see the fruits of your labors for three, four, 10 years down the line," Ms. Dorm said.

The upper west side of Chester had problems with crime and a lack of community organizations working in the area. Housing was poor, with many abandoned buildings, and all of the city’s public housing developments were located in this 10-square-block area of about 7,300 people, said Cheryl Burns Cunningham.

Ms. Cunningham is executive director of the Chester Education Foundation and coordinator of the Assistance for Impact Delegation team, which was created under the Seed side of the initiative.

Starting its Weed and Seed program a year earlier than York, Chester focused on health and wellness, employment, youth and adult education, economic development and housing.

Many of the programs targeted young people. Chester created elementary tutoring and enrichment programs, reading programs involving adults, afterschool music, martial arts and swimming classes, programs for at-risk youth, go-cart building and competitions and brought in traveling shows from the Philadelphia Zoo, Franklin Institute and New Jersey Aquarium.

Mercer County officials have already implemented some of the initiatives that Chester and York looked at to improve the area.

Chester opened a police substation in the target area and York already had two before Weed and Seed.

Sharon has a police sub-station in the Malleable Heights public housing complex.

Part of Chester was designated a tax-free Keystone Opportunity Zone to attract business. Sharon and Farrell are in the Shenango Valley’s KOZ.

The Chester Housing Authority received a federal Hope VI grant to rebuild all five public housing complexes.

Mercer County Housing Authority has received a Hope VI grant and plans to demolish and rebuild the Steel City Terrace public housing units in Farrell.

Chester had the benefit of service agency collaboration under a program called Communities That Care, which the Chester Education Foundation had coordinated since 1994.

Turf issues between many agencies had been resolved and everyone was careful not to duplicate services, Ms. Cunningham said.

"That history has made our community sort of unique in collaboration," she said. "That has been very, very key to our success."

The foundation is constantly encouraging new agencies to join its network, she said. The network can provide the people that the agencies want to serve, and the agencies often take part in each others’ initiatives.

But even a high degree of collaboration doesn’t mean people won’t be skeptical, she said.

"People were very skeptical of people coming into their community and then leaving without having made a substantial difference," she said.

Chester tried to smooth over some concerns by choosing research-based programs that had worked elsewhere.

While Weed and Seed provides about $200,000 over three years, the scope of Seed programs requires far more than that. Chester had a three-year budget of $1.7 million, which included in-kind services as well as cash grants and donations.

"You don’t become a Weed and Seed community and get a pot of money," Ms. Cunningham said. "You have to develop a strategy. That process of developing a strategy and following through with it makes you more prepared to get other funding."

The Weed and Seed designation helps attract other funding. The state deems Weed and Seed areas priorities for funding from state agencies.

Ms. Dorm said in some cases agencies that had applied unsuccessfully for funding for years finally received money.

The Weed and Seed money also can be leveraged to find other funding.

Although Chester no longer receives Weed and Seed funding, it still is designated a Weed and Seed city.

"We’re still accessing hundreds of thousands of dollars through the state for our programs," she said.

Weed and Seed is not only about creating new programs. In many cases, it is used to strengthen existing programs.

York was able to find money for supplies for its two police substations and get police involved in the community in ways other than just enforcing the law.

York was able to pay for child fingerprinting kits, parts for bicycles for police bike patrols, bowling nights and a Christmas present program.

"We’ve had community policing for a number of years, but you’d be surprised how far $15,000 can go," Ms. Dorm said.

The police presence in Weed and Seed communities goes beyond bowling nights and the initial flurry of investigations and arrests under Operation Triggerlock.

Chester and York both employ saturation patrols involving local, state and county police.

York is trying to get residents more involved in law enforcement by training them in block watch programs and how to compile information that can be used to initiate nuisance actions on properties and bars.

Chester made up for the loss in Weed and Seed funding by securing money from Delaware County, private sources and state agencies, Ms. Cunningham said. Foundations and businesses have stepped in to help in York, Ms. Dorm said.

Ms. Dorm endorsed the program for other areas interested in applying for Weed and Seed designation. "I highly recommend that your area consider taking advantage of the program," she said.