After months of meetings and brainstorming, members of Weed and Seed's AID team are ready to present a revitalization plan to the public.

The plan for parts of Farrell and Sharon is based on six target areas -- public safety, economic development, education, housing, recreation and employment -- and is the second part, or the "seed," of the program.

Weed and Seed, created by a state grant, takes a two-prong approach to revitalizing depressed, high crime areas. The weed side focuses on law enforcement, while seed efforts are geared to community-building activities.

The Assistance for Impact Delegation, or AID, team, plans to educate the community and garner more community support when they unveil the plan at 5 p.m. Sept. 19 at the Quinby Street Resource Center, 335 Quinby St., Sharon.

Adrienne Gordon, team director, said they need volunteers, mentors and people to join the neighborhood association to make the revitalization successful.

The 25-member team, made up of law enforcement officials, public officials and representatives of community organizations, businesses and schools, began meeting in February to develop the revitalization plan. The plan has been approved by Carl Anderson, state director of Weed and Seed.

One of the goals in the revitalization plan is to encourage more collaborative efforts between service agencies in the area in order to get more government funding, Ms. Gordon said.

"You're gonna hear a lot about collaboration, a lot about commitment, and a lot about grassroots," she said. She said it's difficult to get government funding without some type of collaborative effort, Ms. Gordon said.

Weed and Seed has received a state grant of $90,000 a year over a period of four years that requires a 25 percent local match in the third year and a 50 percent local match in the fourth year, Ms. Gordon said. She said the money is supposed to be used to reduce blight, demolish houses and construct mini-parks on the land left by the housing demolition.

"Recreation is a big concern for our community," Ms. Gordon said.

In addition to developing so-called greenspace the plan calls for increased recreation

Another big component of the plan is to "aggressively help small businesses," she said.

The plan calls for a community and business liaison for Sharon and Farrell to help develop a small business marketing tool and to create a reference guide to help entrepreneurs. Other goals are to increase the number of small businesses and to decrease unemployment by offering incentive to owners of small businesses.

Getting young people involved is the work of Weed and Seed's Target Area Local Leaders, or TALL, team.

"So far it's been kind of an adult thing," Ms. Gordon said of the revitalization planning.

A youth community center in the target Weed and Seed area, which straddles the Sharon-Farrell border, is one of the plan's objectives. The program would include continuing education for suspended students, a one-to-one mentoring program and activities.

Ms. Gordon said the turnout for the revitalization meetings proves that people in the community really care and have ideas. She said she is hoping a lot of residents will attend the community meeting and get involved.

"I hope we will see new faces at our community meeting," Ms. Gordon said. She added she wants people to know that "we're here to stay."

You can e-mail Herald Staff Writer Kristen Garrett at kgarrett@sharonherald.com