COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Neighborhood Opportunity and Community Accountability Proconsul will discuss bringing a community center to East Columbia at its monthly meeting Tuesday night, according to Office of Violence Prevention Administrator D’Markus Thomas-Brown.
He said real progress is happening through NOCAP.
“We’re not capping,” Thomas-Brown said. “Whereas [there have] been times in the past things have been said things were not carried out. This is not what we’re doing.”
The group was formed in May 2025 by the Office of Violence Prevention Advisory Board to bring needed resources to NOCAP-identified areas. The hope is that the resources and new opportunities in the community will help address root causes of, and ultimately minimize, violence.
After tracking 911 call patterns and using an overlay with stressor mapping to look at factors like income and access to fresh fruits and vegetables, east Columbia was identified as a NOCAP area.
Thomas-Brown said the “near east” is vast.
“We have residents from the Indian Hills area. We have residents from the Lake of the Woods roundabout areas. We have residents from the Merritt area. We have residents from El Chaparral area. So really it’s that near east corridor, if you will.” Thomas-Brown said. “We have residents from Hanover Village who are there and apart. And so hence we are able to use the Hanover Village.”
In order to help those in the community heal from past violence and break from cycles of violence, Thomas-Brown said it’s important people who actually live in the community are a part of NOCAP’s conversations.
“Those who are closest to the problems are closest to the solutions, but lack the resources and the recognition,” Thomas-Brown said. “There are things going on that are unsafe, that are there [east Columbia] and inequitable, that are driving to root causes that would cause violence or anything else, for that matter, that limit flourishing and wellness. As neighbors, as residents that live there, they have the ability to hold those things accountable.”
He said NOCAP meetings don’t necessarily have an agenda, rather they are more of a guided conversation for those living there.
“It’s their neighborhood, right? It’s their comfort zone. It’s their comfort level. It’s what they desire,” Thomas-Brown said. “I will bring resources in and those that I work with. From a city perspective and from a resource perspective, they can come and amplify your voices, but I’m not going to be the one drawing people to the to the meeting.”
About a dozen residents regularly attend the monthly meetings, alongside city leaders and local nonprofits like the Powerhouse Community Development Corporation. Two Columbia Publics Schools students attend to help bring a youth perspective, something D’Markus said is highly encouraged.
“We have moms who have kids who have lost kids to cycles of violence,” Thomas-Brown said. “And I mean not just gun violence. Cycles of violence could be substance use disorder. We have an overdose, right? That’s violence.”
Bringing a community center to the neighborhood is something adult attendees have been pushing for. Thomas-Brown said east of Highway 63 and north of Interstate 70, youth don’t have anything like that.
“They dream of what it would look like. And there’s a lot of green space, just healing gardens and stuff like that,” Thomas-Brown said. “Resources, access, design. What would it be planned for? What would be in the community center? So all those discussions are going on in real time.”
At Tuesday’s meeting, NOCAP will also discuss when it plans to hold its mental health training sessions. The Columbia City Council approved a $21,000 contract for it last week.