Groups plan cleanup of Youngstown neighborhoods

By ELISE FRANCO

YOUNGSTOWN — Over the past several months, groups across Youngstown have done city- and neighborhood-wide cleanups. But not everyone has been as candid about the need as Abdul Harris.

Harris is a member of Difference Makers, a local nonprofit charity, and has lived on the city’s lower East Side for 50 years. He said conditions in his neighborhood have become unacceptable.

“Once upon a time there was no blight. There were no empty houses,” he said. “Now they are empty and red-tagged, and that attracts crime. So instead of complaining about it, we decided to clean it up ourselves.”

The cleanup will begin at 9:30 a.m. June 24 at the corner of Lansing Avenue and Bank Street. Harris expects participation from about 50 members of Difference Makers and Heart Reach Ministries of Youngstown.

Harris said he knows of at least six abandoned properties that have become nothing more than a trash dump or a place to conduct illegal activity. The groups plan to clean up those properties by removing trash, tires and brush. He said keeping up with these abandoned houses not only helps the neighborhood look better, but also keeps unwanted “two- and four-legged vermin” away.

“It looks bad right now, and we are disgusted, so we want to get out there and do something about it,” Harris said. “We’re hoping in year two of the project we finally get some results.”

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.