Change is underfoot in North Point Douglas.

In the last year, this small inner-city Winnipeg community has undergone a remarkable transformation. Its residents have rallied together to try to rid the neighbourhood of the gangs, drugs and violence that have plagued the area for years - and the group effort is paying off. Nearly 30 crack houses have been shut down, relationships with police are improving, and a renewed sense of optimism is in the air.

The snowballing positivity begs an obvious question: Just how exactly has North Point Douglas been able to start to reclaim itself in such a relatively short period of time?

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Shaped roughly like a triangle, North Point Douglas is tucked away between Main Street and the Red River, bordered by the CP railway tracks to the south and Redwood Avenue to the north.

The neighbourhood was once prosperous - shadows of its former affluence can still be seen in the sprawling houses that line its streets - but as time has passed, things changed.

Lois Greyeyes has lived in the area for 30 years, watched families grow up and move out, and she's seen social problems creep in.

"The younger kids came in and then the drug situation went wild," she says.

Greyeyes has watched crack houses spring up like mushrooms and seen parks become littered with used needles. Several years ago, her neighbour was left with brain damage after being jumped for the six-pack of beer he'd been carrying home.

"It just went downhill for I don't know how many years," Greyeyes says. "There used to be terrible gangs who'd fight and go crazy all around here."

Along with crime, poverty became (and remains) a common theme in North Point Douglas. Home to a disproportionately large number of Aboriginal people and single moms - groups that continue to face discrimination and social marginalization - over 40% of the area's private households live below the poverty line, compared to 20.3% in Winnipeg as a whole. Almost a fifth of area residents aged 20 or older have less than a Grade 9 education, compared to 7.8%, city-wide. Obviously these figures speak to the barriers facing those trying to get ahead.

But statistics only tell part of the story, says Sel Burrows, chair of the North Point Douglas Residents Committee.

"Ninety-seven per cent of the people who live here are perfectly normal, fine folk. We have, unfortunately, a few people who have caused us some problems - but we have them on the run," he says.

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De facto spokesperson for the area, Burrows has become a familiar face in Winnipeg's media. Arguably, he's also the human engine behind a lot of the recent changes in North Point Douglas. In addition to attending 10 to 15 meetings each week, he has made presentations to numerous civic committees and was recently chosen to sit on the newly formed police advisory board.

"What I've tried to do in my life is be an 'edge person,'" he says. "Keep one foot in the real world where politicians make decisions and stuff like that, and one foot in the counter-culture - the people who don't have power and influence."

Three years ago, the 64-year-old and his wife, Chris, moved back into Point Douglas (where they'd lived 10 years before) from Thompson, Man., buying a 1906 house he describes as "the ugliest slum you've ever seen."

Thanks to some TLC, the Burrowses' home is now welcoming and cozy, both inside and out.

Similar improvements have been made throughout the neighbourhood - changes that, coupled with the reduction in crime, have made the area increasingly attractive to buyers looking for affordable character homes. Debbie Fulton, a local realtor, even calls Point Douglas "the poor man's Wolseley."

Passionate about community development and a hands-on kind of guy, Burrows began volunteering for the residents committee. He says it quickly became apparent that safety was an issue - a reality that became personal for him last spring, when he impulsively confronted a neighbourhood adolescent and was left with shattered facial bones and five tiny screws holding his left eyeball in place.

Two months later, in June 2007, a watershed moment occurred. Students from Norquay Elementary School used a visit by Michaëlle Jean, Canada's Governor General, to draw attention to the out-of-control situation by reading a passionate letter in which they expressed their fears and frustrations and pleaded for help.

This was actually the second such letter, says Elaine Bishop, executive director of the North Point Douglas Women's Centre. Ten months prior, a similar letter, also written by neighbourhood kids, was read to the residents committee.

"Basically, they said, 'We're being hassled by the gangs, we don't want to be running drugs, we get beaten up if we don't - you're the adults; do something,'" she recalls.

An ad hoc safety committee had been formed in response to the first letter, but it was the Jean event which caught the attention of the city at large - attention the beleaguered community strategically used to its own advantage.

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"What you get with me is a very aggressive, very action-oriented residents association," Burrows says.

"People who had been threatening the general populace had been able to wander around the area without repercussions... I said, 'What we have to do is change the community to where it's the bad guys who are looking over their shoulder and worrying, rather than us.'"

As a starting point, the committee decided on an achievable goal - taking action on the abundance of poorly maintained derelict houses. Residents began pestering Winnipeg inspectors, insisting that existing civic by-laws - which mandate that vacant houses be sealed with white plywood pieces that fit snugly into window and door frames - be enforced. It took a few weeks and a lot of calls, but persistence paid off.

Next, they turned their attention to the crack houses.

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The Point Powerline was born last summer over glasses of homemade wine at Burrowses' house. A small group of residents had gathered to discuss the possibility of creating a citizens' patrol, and came up with a unique system: One resident on each block would be designated a "community safety rep" and would be responsible for reporting illegal activity via phone or e-mail to Sel and Chris, who would then pass on the information to the appropriate authorities. Everything would be done anonymously to avoid intimidation or retribution.

In order to be effective, the Winnipeg Police Service needed to be on-board as a partner - a challenge in an area where, more often than not, police officers are seen as enemies, not allies. Indeed, the relationship between residents and the WPS had deteriorated to the point that some people had stopped reporting crimes altogether as, from their perspective, no one bothered showing up.

"(We had been) really frustrated with the police department," Burrows says. "We couldn't find a way to communicate with them. It was like a closed door."

Luckily, thanks to a career spent working in inner-city recreation, corrections and politics, Burrows has lots of friends in high places. He put a call in to Justice Minister Dave Chomiak, who passed his complaint along to a "tall, skinny guy" named Keith McCaskill - the man who would be sworn in as Winnipeg's 16th police chief only months later in yet another fortuitous twist of fate.

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Burrows speaks highly of both McCaskill and the changes he's implemented within the WPS since becoming chief in December. Residents are now receiving friendlier service and quicker response times, he says, while officers have told him that it's become "a pleasure" to work in North Point Douglas.

"They are so much more community oriented and thinking outside the normal policing box," Burrows says. "The impact (McCaskill has) had already is just mind-boggling."

The chief, however, sees things differently.

"You've got to give credit to the community," McCaskill says. "They spearheaded it, they started coming up with initiatives and ideas - all I did was sort of be a part of it."

Still, McCaskill's willingness to meet with local residents, his commitment to the idea of relationship-building, and his ability to connect people have undoubtedly contributed to the positive changes that have been taking place in North Point Douglas.

The Powerline initiative now has 41 community safety reps acting as the eyes and ears of the neighborhood. Their observations are passed on to the Public Safety Investigation Unit, a specialized subdivision of the provincial justice department which works in partnership with the WPS to enforce the Safer Communities and Neighborhoods Act - legislation that holds property owners accountable for any ongoing illegal activities taking place on their properties.

Spirits buoyed by the successful closure of numerous crack houses, area residents held a public rally last October, at which they declared their intent to make North Point Douglas a "crack-free zone."

"We were sort of hoping to get 25, 50 people out," Burrows says.

Over 100 people showed up, including a slew of local politicians and Blue Bomber Milt Stegall.

Burrows says the crime rate in North Point Douglas has dropped 70% in eight months. Police can't confirm that, but McCaskill says that's beside the point.

"Regardless of what the numbers are, the community really, truly believes the crime rate has come down a lot - they're coming out on the streets, they're feeling more safe, and that's really what it's all about," he says.

"If you look at North Point Douglas, really, the story there is not the fact that the crime rate is reduced - it's that the people rose up and made a difference in the community - that's the story. It's the people that caused the change."

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The North Point Douglas Women's Centre is located at the corner of Euclid Avenue and Austin Street. The building used to house a grocery store - one picketed by area residents in the late '90s for selling solvents to addict and for splitting up packages of diapers and cigarettes to sell in smaller quantities at hugely inflated prices.

The late '90s was also when a group of women began working on community concerns out of a shared family resource room at Norquay school.

Funding was eventually secured, and the group was soon incorporated as a non-profit charity. In 2001, with the assistance of the North End Renewal Corporation, the now-vacant grocery store was purchased and renovated.

"The women who started the women's centre are absolute pioneers," says Bishop, who's been the centre's executive director for the last two-and-a-half years. "They're heroes."

Indeed, since the centre opened its doors in 2003, it's become a vital gathering place for the community. The last fiscal year saw 5,784 adults and more than 817 children utilize the centre in some way, shape or form - a 34% increase in traffic from the year before.

Open six days a week, the centre offers free access to phones, computers and laundry facilities; parenting classes; emergency food; youth outreach; educational opportunities; and advocacy on issues such as housing and welfare. Its walls are covered in signs, including a hand-printed list of guidelines that its clients are expected to follow. Rule No. 1 is: "We do not judge."

Bishop says the centre's staff and volunteers have always known that area safety was an issue, but they have lacked the capacity to respond - that is, until recently.

"This community knows what it wants and needs. We're not short on vision," she says. "We were already doing what we could, but doing a lot depends on having hands and feet to do that."

An area resident herself, Bishop is pleased by the successful community-led rejuvenation efforts of the last year, but she warns there's lots more work to do.

Some of that work will revolve around domestic violence - which has touched many lives in North Point Douglas.

In addition to more education and expanded services for abused women, the centre will also be launching a new program in the fall called Alternatives to Violence, a grassroots initiative that's been used by peace workers in post-genocide Rwanda and by social workers in U.S. prisons.

"It works on a belief that everyone has transforming power within them," Bishop explains. "What we need to do is create safe places for people to learn how to think in conflict situations.

"Conflict is an opportunity for change," she continues. "It tells us that something is not working."

Changing behaviours and attitudes will take time but Bishop is confident the community will be able to make a meaningful dent in the problem.

"There's no fence to sit on," she says. "We're either part of the solution or we're part of the problem, and doing nothing allows problems to continue."

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With each passing month, it seems another chapter is added to the North Point Douglas tale.

"Everything we're doing is having a positive side-effect," Burrows says, noting community residents have begun approaching the residents committee with all sorts of innovative ideas.

A large-scale house-by-house survey is underway; part of a new community economic development project to identify specific area needs while building the employment skills - and confidence - of area women.

Then there's Summerfest, a volunteer-driven initiative that began May 18 and continues until August 3o. Every Saturday at Joe Zuken Park there will be musical and dance performances or movie nights, family picnics and games. Everything is free, too.

A youth employment agency is now up and running, a bicycle repair workshop is being planned and there's talk of creating a historic walking tour.

In April, the province allocated $500,000 for more inner-city recreation directors - something Burrows (who calls himself a "champion schmoozer") had proposed to Gary Doer at a funeral several months earlier.

Meanwhile, the efforts of the North Point Douglas environmental committee can also be seen down by the river.

Two years ago, residents planted 200 tiny saplings along a gravel path and last summer they added another 70 shrubs, including food-producing varieties such as raspberries and saskatoons.

Some of the new additions didn't survive the winter, while a wide swath were lost when someone deliberately started a fire.

A few shrubs were dug up and stolen and, judging from the axe marks left behind, at least one tree was chopped down (whether for wood or out of spite remains unclear).

But the plants that have made it - the hardy ones; the ones that have dug their roots in and held on through the rough times - are now thriving.