Church members, students spruce up neighborhood

By Sean Barron

More than half of the South Side neighborhood’s homes are vacant, a community activist said.

Thanks to several area high school students, church members and others, vegetables will soon replace vacancy on a small piece of property on Youngstow‘s South Side.

The parcel, near Samuel and South avenues, was the epicenter of Wednesday’s neighborhood cleanup. About 50 people took part in the two-hour effort, which targeted Samuel between South Avenue and Gibson Street.

Among those grabbing rakes, garbage bags and lawn mowers to spruce things up were 10 students from Heartland Christian School in Columbiana. Several students, including sophomore Taylor Hause and junior Forrest Riley, found themselves cleaning debris from the road, mowing lawns and vacant lots, removing weeds from empty homes and preparing the property for a flower garden and four vegetable gardens.

“I just want to give back,” said Taylor, taking a break from digging rocks from the soil for the gardens before tilling. “It feels good to do something for a change.”

Forrest’s duties included trimming weeds and cleaning sidewalks on both sides of Samuel. Such work also sets a good example for others his age to follow, the 11th-grader said.

“It’s important to do something in the community and get to know people. Many are plain old good folks,” he said of the area’s residents.

Both students took on the cleanup as part of their school’s miniterm, in which they took a week off school to perform community service projects around the city. Many homeowners appreciated seeing the groups cleaning their neighborhood, Taylor said.

Praising the students’ contributions was Arleen DeVivo, a Heartland Spanish-teacher and their chaperone. Such work “gives them an opportunity to rise to their potential,” she said.

“A small gesture can build a team to do great things,” said DeVivo, as she bagged leaves and other debris in front of a vacant home in the 500 block. “We need to believe in our youth.”

The project is a result of a new partnership between the South Avenue Block Watch, Metro Assembly Church on South Avenue and Heart Reach Ministries, on Youngstown’s North Side, noted the Rev. Al Yanno, pastor of Metro Assembly. Similarly, a program called Adopt-a-Block was created to “clean up neighborhoods one at a time,” the Rev. Mr. Yanno said.

The effort also works with youngsters by providing treats and hosting carnivals, for example, he added.

Roughly five years ago, nearly all of the neighborhood’s homes were occupied. Now, the area has only a 40-percent occupancy rate, noted Gail Stark, the South Avenue Block Watch’s vice president. Many abandoned or vacant structures are plagued by rodents and have been the victims of copper thieves, she explained, adding that the neighborhood also has seen its share of prostitution, drugs and other criminal activity.

The block watch, with about 50 members, formed last year and has adopted Samuel and Mabel streets as well as Cameron Avenue, Stark noted.

The vegetable and flower gardens are on the site of a vacant home that was razed about a year ago. More uninhabitable houses in the area need to come down, she added.

Plants were provided by Grow Youngstown.