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Civic Works working to clean up blighted parts of Baltimore

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ABC2 News
Allison Bourg

BALTIMORE – Three AmeriCorps workers knelt in the dirt at the corner of North Collington Avenue and McElderry Street, tending to a small landscape that’s been there for the last three years.

The collection of decorative rocks, plants and bushes replaced a vacant lot at the intersection. Instead of an eyesore, it’s now a place where people who live and work in the area come to read and relax.

Earl Millett, chief operating officer for the Baltimore nonprofit Civic Works, pointed to the miniature rain garden in one corner. Stormwater fees, and how to manage stormwater runoff, is a hot topic these days, he said.

“But 10 years ago, we were working on these,” Millett said.

Through its partnership with AmeriCorps, Civic Works has about 300 workers out in all parts of Baltimore, working to beautify the neighborhoods.

That means something different for each neighborhood. For some, like this neighborhood in East Baltimore, it’s fixing up a vacant lot.

“We are all over the place,” said Jenny Katz, supervisor of Civic Works’ community lots team.

And they have tentative plans to conduct similar cleanups in neighborhoods damaged in the Baltimore riots last month.

Sociologists sometimes talk about the broken window theory in crime-ridden urban neighborhoods, the idea that not fixing small flaws in a community can lead to bigger problems in the long run.

Millett said he’s seen the opposite effect, with residents fixing up their own properties and helping to pick up trash along the streets.

It’s not like they didn’t care before, he said. But why should they take the time to spruce up their own yard if the neighborhood is rundown and empty lots are strewn with trash and overrun with weeds?

“We often say we see the fixed window syndrome,” Millett said.

David Harris, president of the McElderry Park Community Association and a longtime resident of the neighborhood, has sent several area youth looking for work to Civic Works.

Cleaning up vacant neighborhood properties makes the community look better, and it gives the workers a sense of purpose and a paycheck—key incentives for young adults in the city’s more troubled neighborhoods.

“If you don’t incentivize it, it’s going to be tough for kids to want to do,” Harris said.

Willie Flowers, executive director of the Park Heights Community Health Alliance, said he’s seen firsthand how the lot cleanups have benefitted his community. Flowers said AmeriCorps workers beautified a neglected park in the area, plus built a garden for his organization.

Another formerly rundown lot used to be a place where area residents would sit around and loiter, Flowers said. Now, those same residents help to keep the lot clean.

“I think they saw the benefit in maintain it. They kind of put some shine on it, and it energized (residents) to keep it up,” Flowers said.

Through its AmeriCorps partnership, Civic Works also helps local youth feel invested in their city, Flowers said.

“And then they continue to contribute,” he said.

Davon Davis, who grew up in Baltimore, and Colin McNamara, a Catonsville native, started with AmeriCorps last October. After they finish their year-long stint, they’ll receive $5,500 to use toward their future education at any accredited school.

They were working on the East Baltimore lot last week.

“You don’t want to see trash all the time,” Davis said.

McNamara said his experience working in the city has been “eye opening.”

“I grew up in the suburbs, so I’ve had a nice backyard,” he said.

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