The neighborhood improvement phenomenon has taken hold in our little concrete borough. It was time to stop asking when things will get better, and start working toward that end ourselves.

It wasn’t easy. It started with one man, who painted his store front a beautiful red with green and white vines crawling up the façade. The art and colorful paint colors brought people out of their homes and everyday people started to congregate and shop there. Only a week and a half later, an abandoned building four doors down was being painted by a group of local teens, and the spark was lit. It’s amazing what a little paint and good intentions can do to an otherwise lost community.

Our community has been hit hard by the economic hardships of the last decade. People have lost their jobs, homes and identities through this very difficult hardship and it shows. Houses have been abandoned, empty lots have become garbage dumping grounds, and people have a general ‘I give up’ attitude towards the area. Concrete has become the playground for our children, teens are bored and getting into trouble, and our elderly stay in their hot, sticky homes due to fear.

Because of that man who painted his storefront, we the community finally had a place to meet and talk. It was amazingly inspirational to discover that everyone from the young to the old wanted the same things from and for their neighborhood, so we set out to create a plan. We held a community gathering in one of those vacant concrete lots. We had hot dogs and ice cream for the kids, and iced tea and live jazz music for the adults (we didn’t know we had so much artistic talent hidden in our midst). We hoped that people would come out of the safety of their homes to meet their neighbors and discuss what to do about the failings of our neighborhood. To our surprise, it was a great success.

We had heard of different organizations and corporations such as Home Depot which had grants available for areas like ours to get a new start. Unfortunately these avenues involved a long process which was not part of our immediate timeline. We did however apply for four different federal and privatized grants for our long-term goals. For the immediate time though, we decided that we had enough supplies and eager workers to start getting things done on our own.

Our first objective was to get a consensus on the priority of needs for the community. In our case the top three priorities were-

- A safe, clean area for the children to play
- Clean up of garbage and drug paraphernalia from our streets and vacant lots
- Safety for all ages

We started a neighborhood clean up weekend where every one came out with their own brooms, garbage bags, and wheel barrows. People working together to the same end was exactly what we needed to be a community again. Neighbors met each other, and you could hear laughter and chatter again. One centrally located empty lot was designated to be a play area for the kids. We cut down the overgrown shrubs which gave us a better view of the area; we removed all of the garbage, broken concrete slabs, old metal and swept out all of the used condoms and needles from every nook and cranny of that unsightly area. A local lumber yard donated wood chips, paint and plants, and people worked together and created something really fantastic. The area is now filled with children’s play and laughter, the older neighbors painted chess squares on benches and it’s now a neighborhood hub. We even started to dig out some concrete and are creating a community garden there too. Not all of the concrete was removed; we filled the many concrete cracks and painted a basketball court complete with hoops and nets donated from a neighbor’s storage basement.

Our neighborhood is a community again; people of all ages are out of their homes and socializing together. There is a renewed sense of community, where people are looking out for each others best interests. No one dares to ‘tag’ or ruin what has been created through our efforts, and it’s leading to bigger projects.

I write this to inspire others to start a project in their neglected areas and neighborhoods. With us, it took one wonderful man painting his store front, maybe you can be the spark in your neighborhood. All it takes is the combined good intentions of the community. Concrete jungles can become communities again.