Beth Alden Paulson, a progressive public policy analyst, attorney, and community activist, died June 25, 2013 at the Washington Home and Community Hospice. She was 67.
Her unusually diverse background and capabilities combined bottom-up problem solving and public policy development that built multi-organizational coalitions nationally, internationally, and on the local level. As Director, Community Programs and Training, for the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC), she provided and coordinated training and technical assistance for community-based demonstration programs.
As General Counsel and National Program Director for the Milton S. Eisenhower Foundation, she pioneered the Foundation's community-based crime prevention programs, working with police chiefs, captains, and community organizations from 20 jurisdictions across the U.S. She organized delegations of police chiefs from across America, and led them to Japan to witness and observe community-based policing at its core.
As a member of Vaughn & Paulson, an alternative dispute resolution firm, she drafted heath care regulations for the District of Columbia, Department of Human Services, co-authored a section on drug and alcohol issues in the work place for a Mathew Bender & Co. book on arbitration, and began a divorce and family mediation practice.
Beth Paulson graduated from Georgetown Law Center with honors. She obtained a Master of Arts in Political Science with honors and a Master of Science in Social Work with honors from the University of Kentucky. She was a member of the D.C. Bar Association, Pennsylvania Bar Association, American Bar Association, and a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE).
Her public service career started at the Kentucky Department of Child Welfare as a social worker. The Housing Authority of Louisville hired her as Director of Social Services to manage 35,000 low-income residents and supervise 64 staff. She was promoted to Special Assistant for Program Planning, where she obtained $32 million of public and private funds to support programs. The City of Louisville hired her as a Grants Development Specialist, to coordinate activities and get funding for a downtown development project. She prepared and submitted a $6 million Urban Development Action Grant (HUD) that leveraged $48 million in private financing. HUD awarded $5 million to the project.
Beth was a long-time resident of the D.C.’s Southwest community, which was experiencing a spike of juvenile related assaults. In a November 15, 2008 Washington Post article titled “Watch Where You Walk, Mr. Obama”, Colbert King reported that a Harbour Square woman was brutally assaulted by three teenagers on 6th Street by Arena Stage. They pinned the victim’s arms back and beat and kicked her. One month before, Mark Kenneth Blank, arms filled with groceries, was walking home near Waterside Mall. He was attached and beaten. He died a week later from his injuries. Three youths were caught, ages 13,14, and 15. Mr. Blank was one of 5 people accosted in that area in an 8-hour period. Even the police were not safe. A uniformed policeman approached a group of teenagers standing outside the CVS drugstore at Waterside Mall in the middle of the day. He asked why the teenagers were not in school? Two of the juveniles jumped the officer, stole his police radio, and tried to steal his gun. The two juveniles were later arrested and charged with assaulting an officer.
At this time, developers announced the north side of the Waterside Mall would be blocked by a security fence. The news sent shock through residents living north of the mall, because closing the north side of the mall put residents at risk of being victimized by escalating crime. Beth drew upon her diverse set of capabilities to pool the collective expertise of neighbors, problem-solve, and address the community’s crime and quality-of-life issues. She organized a volunteer advocacy group called the South West Action Team (SWAT).
She enlisted the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). MPD trained SWAT members in community-based crime prevention. SWAT members formed a Transportation Committee that brought together a public/private coalition that funded and launched a unique transportation project called the “Shuttle-Bug”. [See attachment “Shuttle-Bug Partners”]
The Shuttle-Bug was a wheelchair accessible - 13 passenger shuttle bus - that ran a scheduled route throughout the neighborhood north of Waterside Mall. SWAT made the case for a neighborhood shuttle service as a crime remediation measure. The Shuttle-Bug provided service from December 8, 2008 – June 30, 2010. For 18 months, it provided residents with a “free and safe way to the Safeway”.
In his final Washington Post column of 2008 titled “A Hope for 2009: Overcoming D.C.’s State of Denial”, Colbert King wrote “a year later, little has changed. Violence still carried the day”. The Colbert King article described a meeting of Ward 6 residents in Southwest. “In response to numerous questions from the audience about safety measures that can be taken, the police officers stressed … using the Shuttle-Bug”.
The Southwest community will hold a “Celebration of Life” as a tribute to Beth A. Paulson on: Tuesday, July 23, 2013 – 6:30 pm - Westminster Presbyterian Church – 401 Eye Street, S.W. – D.C. 20024
Beth Alden Paulson, a progressive public policy analyst, attorney, and community activist, died June 25, 2013 at the Washington Home and Community Hospice. She was 67.
Her unusually diverse background and capabilities combined bottom-up problem solving and public policy development that built multi-organizational coalitions nationally, internationally, and on the local level. As Director, Community Programs and Training, for the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC), she provided and coordinated training and technical assistance for community-based demonstration programs.
As General Counsel and National Program Director for the Milton S. Eisenhower Foundation, she pioneered the Foundation's community-based crime prevention programs, working with police chiefs, captains, and community organizations from 20 jurisdictions across the U.S. She organized delegations of police chiefs from across America, and led them to Japan to witness and observe community-based policing at its core.
As a member of Vaughn & Paulson, an alternative dispute resolution firm, she drafted heath care regulations for the District of Columbia, Department of Human Services, co-authored a section on drug and alcohol issues in the work place for a Mathew Bender & Co. book on arbitration, and began a divorce and family mediation practice.
Beth Paulson graduated from Georgetown Law Center with honors. She obtained a Master of Arts in Political Science with honors and a Master of Science in Social Work with honors from the University of Kentucky. She was a member of the D.C. Bar Association, Pennsylvania Bar Association, American Bar Association, and a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE).
Her public service career started at the Kentucky Department of Child Welfare as a social worker. The Housing Authority of Louisville hired her as Director of Social Services to manage 35,000 low-income residents and supervise 64 staff. She was promoted to Special Assistant for Program Planning, where she obtained $32 million of public and private funds to support programs. The City of Louisville hired her as a Grants Development Specialist, to coordinate activities and get funding for a downtown development project. She prepared and submitted a $6 million Urban Development Action Grant (HUD) that leveraged $48 million in private financing. HUD awarded $5 million to the project.
Beth was a long-time resident of the D.C.’s Southwest community, which was experiencing a spike of juvenile related assaults. In a November 15, 2008 Washington Post article titled “Watch Where You Walk, Mr. Obama”, Colbert King reported that a Harbour Square woman was brutally assaulted by three teenagers on 6th Street by Arena Stage. They pinned the victim’s arms back and beat and kicked her. One month before, Mark Kenneth Blank, arms filled with groceries, was walking home near Waterside Mall. He was attached and beaten. He died a week later from his injuries. Three youths were caught, ages 13,14, and 15. Mr. Blank was one of 5 people accosted in that area in an 8-hour period. Even the police were not safe. A uniformed policeman approached a group of teenagers standing outside the CVS drugstore at Waterside Mall in the middle of the day. He asked why the teenagers were not in school? Two of the juveniles jumped the officer, stole his police radio, and tried to steal his gun. The two juveniles were later arrested and charged with assaulting an officer.
At this time, developers announced the north side of the Waterside Mall would be blocked by a security fence. The news sent shock through residents living north of the mall, because closing the north side of the mall put residents at risk of being victimized by escalating crime. Beth drew upon her diverse set of capabilities to pool the collective expertise of neighbors, problem-solve, and address the community’s crime and quality-of-life issues. She organized a volunteer advocacy group called the South West Action Team (SWAT).
She enlisted the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). MPD trained SWAT members in community-based crime prevention. SWAT members formed a Transportation Committee that brought together a public/private coalition that funded and launched a unique transportation project called the “Shuttle-Bug”. [See attachment “Shuttle-Bug Partners”]
vgThe Shuttle-Bug was a wheelchair accessible - 13 passenger shuttle bus - that ran a scheduled route throughout the neighborhood north of Waterside Mall. SWAT made the case for a neighborhood shuttle service as a crime remediation measure. The Shuttle-Bug provided service from December 8, 2008 – June 30, 2010. For 18 months, it provided residents with a “free and safe way to the Safeway”.
In his final Washington Post column of 2008 titled “A Hope for 2009: Overcoming D.C.’s State of Denial”, Colbert King wrote “a year later, little has changed. Violence still carried the day”. The Colbert King article described a meeting of Ward 6 residents in Southwest. “In response to numerous questions from the audience about safety measures that can be taken, the police officers stressed … using the Shuttle-Bug”.
The Southwest community will hold a “Celebration of Life” as a tribute to Beth A. Paulson on: Tuesday, July 23, 2013 – 6:30 pm - Westminster Presbyterian Church – 401 Eye Street, S.W. – D.C. 20024
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