Office of Neighborhood Safety

About the Office of Neighborhood Safety

The Office of Neighborhood Safety supports our City’s public safety ecosystem by working one-on-one with Saint Paul residents at risk. Our work prevents crime and violence before they happen and improves the quality of life for all. We champion innovate approaches to reduce gun violence and unsheltered homelessness, use research and data to improve the delivery of supportive services, and share what we learn to improve public safety.

Our team works with City departments and community partners to:

Provide direct preventive services. Saint Paul residents recognize ONS staff as the City employees who work directly with community to interrupt cycles of crisis. Our Project PEACE and Familiar Faces teams help people at risk choose a path of peace rather than enforcement.
Coordinate with public safety functions citywide. Saint Paul police officers, firefighters and EMTs, and the Homeless Assistance Response Team coordinate with ONS to provide additional support to victims of gun crime, health crises, and unsheltered homelessness. Learn more about our City’s coordinated approach to public safety.
Provide community oversight. Through the Neighborhood Safety Community Council, ONS helps community members oversee the City’s ongoing implementation of our public safety framework and set policy.
Advance public safety innovation. As we work, we collaborate with national experts to collect data, conduct original research and evaluation, and share what we learn to help improve public safety in Saint Paul and nationwide.

Project PEACE

Top row: outreach specialist Dominique Johnson and case manager Jeria Jenkins, program manager Faith Lofton, case managers Andre Knight, Dejay Johnson, and Nesha Adams. Front row: outreach specialists Undre Ellis and Juddah Battles

Gun Violence Prevention through Focused Intervention

Project PEACE helps keep Saint Paul safe by identifying and supporting individuals and families who are at the highest risk of being involved in gun violence. Led by a team of skilled professionals from local neighborhoods, the program builds strong, supportive relationships that enhance safety and well-being across our communities.

In collaboration with the City and County, schools, and community-based organizations, Project PEACE staff respond promptly after a gun violence related incident to provide affected individuals, families, and communities with guidance, support services, and connections to resources that promote healing.

Designed in partnership with Saint Paul residents from neighborhoods affected by gun violence, Project PEACE addresses the real needs of our communities today.
When gun violence happens, Project PEACE supports victims, families, and people involved while law enforcement investigates. This reduces the potential for retaliation and builds trust.
To prevent gun violence from happening, Project PEACE life coaches and outreach workers support the people who are most likely to become involved in gun violence—so they can stay alive, safe, and free.

Here’s some of what Project PEACE accomplished in 2025: 35 active clients; 346 hours of direct client service; 1,274 client interactions, including 316 check-in, 175 school advocacy, 124 parent check-in, 101 resource connection, 85 legal advocacy and support, 72 employment advocacy, 62 life skills coaching

Learn more about Project PEACE

Familiar Faces

Case manager Raven Davis and outreach specialist Arturo Garcia, program administrator Chris Michels, outreach specialist Sam Stoltz, and case manager Jennifer Kissling

Supporting the Most Vulnerable to Improve Quality of Life for All

Saint Paul residents who face serious mental health and substance abuse challenges often get stuck in a vicious cycle of unstable shelter: emergency room, county jail, temporary housing. In between, they have nowhere to go but the streets.

Through Familiar Faces, ONS workers help the most vulnerable members of our community get their basic needs met, work toward safe and stable housing, and get off the streets to safety. Since we began work in November 2024, Familiar Faces has helped over 40 people find stable, permanent housing.

Intensive Care Management Team

The Familiar Faces Intensive Care Management Team provides mental health and substance use support and referrals, integrated with primary health care and life skills development.

Assertive outreach. Every day, Familiar Faces outreach workers build trust with Saint Paul residents through dedicated outreach and consistent follow-up and service connection. Our initial focus is helping people meet their basic needs for food, medical care, temporary shelter, and transportation.
Relentless engagement. Familiar Faces outreach workers facilitate handoffs of dedicated clients to Familiar Faces case managers to provide ongoing support through person centered goal planning focusing on housing stability, safety, wellness, and resolving criminal justice touch points.

From our launch in November 2024 through December 2025, here’s some of what Familiar Faces has done: 415 people reached out to; 39 people housed; 1,431 individual interactions, including 276 shelter/housing/service referral, 147 administrative support, 98 transportation, 28 relocation support, 11 emergency or medical services called, 10 other service

Neighborhood Safety Community Council

The Neighborhood Safety Community Council (NSCC) is a permanent advisory group that keeps the voice of the community at the heart of the City’s public safety work. Appointed community members from every ward in Saint Paul work alongside the Office of Neighborhood Safety to shape priorities, review contract proposals, evaluate the impact of neighborhood safety initiatives, and create and implement new violence prevention programming like Goals Not Guns.

The Council’s responsibilities include:

Recommending and prioritizing community safety strategies
Engaging community members around safety policies
Reviewing the effectiveness of ONS programs
Advising on annual funding to community organizations
Helping ensure safety efforts are grounded in lived experience and resident input

Serving on the NSCC is a hands-on opportunity to influence how Saint Paul prevents violence, invests in neighborhoods, and builds a safer city for everyone.

Apply to Join the Community Council

View NSCC meeting agendas and minutes

Empowering Saint Paul Kids to Say No to Violence

From 2023 to 2025, the week-long Goals Not Guns curriculum helped children and teenagers build the skills to choose a gun-free path. The Neighborhood Safety Community Council (NSCC) provided the “Goals Not Guns” program alongside Elpis Enterprises, a local nonprofit serving Saint Paul youth. Together, we involved young people in healthy conversations about gun violence prevention and mental health.

Creativity for a cause. As part of the curriculum, each student created an original message about saying no to guns with a slogan and artwork. At the end of the program, one student’s message was printed on T-shirts to help spark positive conversations.
Expanding from schools to parks. After bringing the program to Saint Paul elementary, middle, and high schools, ONS expanded the Goals Not Guns curriculum to youth in City programs like Right Track and Rec Check.

Learn more about Goals Not Guns

The People of ONS

Cedrick Baker, Director

Mayor Her tapped Cedrick Baker to lead ONS after a decade of service to vital local institutions. At the Metropolitan Council, Baker organized work to advance equity throughout the Twin Cities region and audited $3.7 billion in light rail projects, including the Green Line, to keep them financially operationally sound. Baker spent the next five years serving Saint Paul Public Schools, first as board administrator and then as chief of staff. In that role he coordinated the district’s day-to-day operations and policy work, oversaw long-term strategic planning and critical community partnerships, and championed Saint Paul students and teachers as the district’s liaison to elected officials. Immediately before joining City government, he was chief of staff at the McKnight Foundation.

In addition to his professional work, Baker has served our City as a member of the Saint Paul Planning Commission. He serves on the boards of Damascus Way Reentry Center and Improve Your Tomorrow–Minnesota. Baker holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Florida and a Master of Public Administration from Georgia State. He is currently completing a Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota.

Rachel Holzemer, Deputy Director

As Deputy Director for Neighborhood Safety in the City Attorney’s Office, Rachel Holzemer manages internal operations and strategic initiatives for ONS, including data systems, program design, and Citywide partnerships that align public safety with community wellbeing. She has led the development and launch of several Citywide efforts, including the Saint Paul Bridge Fund, Returning Home Saint Paul, and the creation of ONS itself.

Before joining the City, Holzemer worked in innovation and human services roles at Hennepin County, bringing deep experience in continuous improvement and collaborative system change.

She holds a master’s degree in leadership and management from Concordia University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Minnesota.

Faith Lofton, Project PEACE Program Manager

Faith Lofton manages core violence prevention initiatives and strategic community partnerships for the City of Saint Paul’s Office of Neighborhood Safety (ONS), with a strong emphasis on culturally responsive service delivery and advancing equity for residents impacted by systemic disparities. She played a central role in launching the Returning Home Saint Paul (RHSP) pilot program, helping to design and implement a coordinated reentry model in partnership with city and community stakeholders.

Prior to joining the City, Lofton served as Program Director and Interim CEO at Ujamaa Place, where she led organizational strategy, strengthened operations, and expanded programming to support formerly incarcerated African American men in achieving stability and long-term success.

Lofton spent the first decade of her career at People Incorporated Mental Health Services, where she held multiple leadership roles across the Homeless Services and Customized Living divisions. During her tenure, she led teams and was instrumental in the development and launch of several programs designed to expand access to mental health, housing stability, and supportive services for individuals experiencing homelessness and complex behavioral health needs.

A proud graduate of Saint Paul Central High School and a lifelong resident of the historic Rondo neighborhood, Lofton brings deep expertise in mental health services, violence prevention, reentry systems, and nonprofit leadership. She is a graduate of Saint Paul College and attended Metropolitan State University.

Christine Michels, Familiar Faces Program Manager

Chris Michels brings 25 years of experience in human services to ONS. She started her career at the Wilder Foundation, where she supported families through the Minnesota Family Investment Program, improved child protection services, helped people in prison prepare for housing and employment, and coordinated services in supportive housing. Her work then turned toward supporting unsheltered people at Catholic Charities, where she managed permanent supportive housing programs, then overnight and daytime shelters through the challenges of the pandemic.

Michels has focused on combating homelessness with the City of Saint Paul since 2023 as the administrator of the Familiar Faces program in ONS. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota.

Five people pose outdoors in the winter next to a truck marked Saint Paul Minnesota

Familiar Faces

Case manager Raven Davis and outreach specialist Arturo Garcia (no longer with ONS), program administrator Chris Michels, outreach specialist Sam Stoltz, and case manager Jennifer Kissling.

Eight people smile for a portrait underneath a sign saying ONS

Project PEACE

Top row: outreach specialist Dominique Johnson and case manager Jeria Jenkins, program manager Faith Lofton, case managers Andre Knight, Dejay Johnson, and Nesha Adams. Front row: outreach specialists Undre Ellis and Juddah Battles (no longer with ONS).

Three people smile for a photo under a sign saying ONS

Office Staff

Data analyst Andrew Mua, community-based organization liaison Tyler Bouwens, ONS deputy director Rachel Holzemer. Not shown: office manager Shyrisse Tisdle.

Neighborhood Safety News

ONS Director Blakey Reflects on Three Years of Neighborhood Safety

10/24/2025 Office of Neighborhood Safety

Mayor Carter appointed Brooke Blakey to lead the City’s new Office of Neighborhood Safety in 2022. Three and a half years later, as she prepared to step down from her role, Director Blakey sat down with Lynnaia Jacobsen to reflect on her legacy and the future of neighborhood safety in Saint Paul.

ONS is Hiring Outreach Specialists

3/3/2026 Office of Neighborhood Safety

The Office of Neighborhood Safety is hiring four Outreach Specialists to join our growing team. If you’re creative, tenacious, and deeply committed to supporting Saint Paul residents through their toughest times, this job might be for you. Learn more about what it’s like from the people who know the work best.

Project PEACE: Meet Saint Paul’s Violence Intervention Team

12/16/2025 Office of Neighborhood Safety

Project PEACE is Saint Paul’s violence intervention program, built here and staffed by people who know our neighborhoods. The team connects people and families at the highest risk of gun violence with steady, practical support—helping them navigate grief, school, family stress, housing, and work before a crisis turns into violence. Get to know the Project PEACE team and the day-to-day work behind a safer Saint Paul.

ONS Violence Prevention Partners Combat Hunger in Saint Paul

11/24/2025 Office of Neighborhood Safety

Keeping our neighborhoods safe relies on neighbors supporting neighbors, ensuring everyone has what they need to be prosperous. This month, after the federal government suspended SNAP benefits nationwide, Saint Paul residents pitched in to keep food on Saint Paul tables. Young people from the Office of Neighborhood Safety’s violence prevention partner HIRED collected over 100 pounds of donations to help neighbors in need.

Every Future Deserves to Rise: Buy a Shirt to Help Saint Paul Youth Protect their Dreams

11/20/2025 Office of Neighborhood Safety

Through the Goals Not Guns program, Saint Paul young people design T-shirts to start courageous conversations about preventing violence in their communities. Mayor Carter shows off three winning designs by students from three City community centers. For a limited time, you can buy a shirt of your own to support Saint Paul kids!

Office of Neighborhood Safety

On This Page

About the Office of Neighborhood Safety

Project PEACE

Gun Violence Prevention through Focused Intervention

Familiar Faces