ICAN also stands ready to work again with Habitat to build more homes in the Carver neighborhood, he said. Habitat's Coleman said nothing's definite yet, but he's ready to work with ICAN on future projects in Carver. Pulling together Penns and other leaders in the Carver neighborhood are proud to say the state of the neighborhood itself no longer poses a barrier to settling there. They point to several changes for the better in recent years that compound the neighborhood's natural advantages, including a core of longtime residents to provide stability, many churches, and its proximity to downtown, Hendrick Medical Center and Hardin-Simmons University. No murders have been committed in the neighborhood since a stretch in 1994 when three people were killed in one tiny area near North 13th and Ash.
Crime statistics show a marked drop, particularly in violent crimes such as aggravated assault.
Community policing, a strategy that relies on officers and neighborhood residents knowing and cooperating with one another, may have helped, some say. Odis Dolton, a founding member of ICAN, recalls when someone would call and ask him to relay a report to police about a crime or suspicious incident they'd witnessed, out of fear of retaliation from the perpetrator. I'm not getting those calls any more,'' said Dolton, now the city's assistant director of administrative services. We feel that people who live in those areas should enjoy the same quality of life as the rest of Abilene,'' he said. Another neighborhood initiative flowing from the revitalization plan offers the promise of better days to come.