Three Reasons to Join the Neighborhood Safety Community Council

By serving on the Neighborhood Safety Community Council, Saint Paul residents guide our City's public safety policies to serve their neighbors better. You could be one of them.

Established by City ordinance in 2022, the NSCC advises the Office of Neighborhood Safety on policies and programs, invests in innovative community safety projects, and builds bridges between neighbors and City public safety leaders.

"The Council is a good way to really have a voice about creative solutions to keeping our community safe," says member Coral Garner. "It's not just about law enforcement; it's about what opportunities we have for youth and families, as well as thinking about things like lighting or walkways, or being involved with community activities that happen in the parks. Safety is all of that."

"Trying to build non-violent ways to reduce violence" is how member John Porten describes the NSCC's mandate. "We communicate about those programs to our communities, and then we also want to hear from those communities back about how those programs are working." Here are some of the ways the NSCC has done that lately:

• Through the Council's Goals Not Guns youth outreach campaign, ONS team members reached out to almost 300 kids at schools and rec centers in 2024 and '25.
• Thanks to an NSCC grant, ONS helped educate our community about neighborhood safety through the ONS Podcast.
• Council members awarded $160,000 in violence-prevention funding to innovative Saint Paul community organizations for 2026.

Right now, the NSCC is looking for new members. Here are three reasons you might want to apply.

1. Born and raised, or here by choice, you love Saint Paul

Council members Kovonna McPipe and Shyrisse Tisdle were both born and bred in Saint Paul. "If I haven't physically lived there, I've had family who's lived in every part of Saint Paul you could imagine," says Kovonna. "Every neighborhood has its charms." Shyrisse grew up in Frogtown, then moved across the freeway to Summit-University.

Kovonna and Shyrisse love Saint Paul-as does Council member Dawn Einwalter, who arrived here from the West Coast in 2015. With family all over Minnesota, she could have chosen anywhere in the state to make a home. "I did a lot of driving around," Dawn says. "Saint Paul was what I liked best." A proud resident of the Midway, she serves on her local District Council as well.

2. You believe everyone deserves to feel safe

As Saint Paul residents themselves, NSCC members have a personal stake neighborhood safety-for themselves, their families, and all their neighbors too. "As a woman, safety is very important to me," says NSCC member Stacey Meath. "I have two daughters. I really want them to grow up in a safe place where they can be outside and play and walk to the store without worry. I'd like to do the same myself. I also want my neighbors to live the life they want to, and not worry about the lack of safety holding them back."

Some Council members have vivid experiences of what it's like to feel unsafe in our City. For Kovonna, "growing up, safety depended on where I was. Being Black in a state that didn't have a lot of people who looked like me, I felt more comfortable on the West Side. When I moved to Highland Park, I thought, 'I don't feel as safe as I thought I did.'"

Shyrisse joined the Council after her daughter was at Jimmy Lee rec center when a shooting happened there. "I said, 'I need to get involved, now that I see what's happening.' Then I joined the Council. I really wanted to make sure people were okay, that the City was listening to them." She found the work so meaningful, she's now the full-time office manager for ONS.

3. You have a unique perspective to contribute

Every Council member's unique combination of experiences and skills is what powers the NSCC.

Some members, like Kovonna, find their way into the work through other City channels. Now 20, she joined the NSCC at sixteen years old through Youth On Boards. "I really enjoy advocacy, the community aspect," she says. "It's built me as a person."

Others are drawn by specific commitments. "I have a passion for youth," says Coral. "One of the critical ways to address community violence is to work upstream, to create more opportunities for youth." That's why she joined the Council.

Some, like John, have professional experience to contribute. "I have a background in violence reduction," he says. "It's a really great way for me to give back to my community." But that's hardly a requirement. There's a need for "more ordinary people," too, says Dawn: "people who aren't professionally connected to safety, who have full lives, and are just really interested in their communities."

No matter what you bring to the Council, Shyrisse says, you will find the work fulfilling. "We want anyone who truly cares about the City, who wants to get involved in a way that feels good. You get to be the voice of your neighbors."

Apply to Join the NSCC

Related News