... neighbors who make changes at home.
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People in the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood have been fighting. But not each other. They’re fighting to revitalize their neighborhood. They’re fighting to change perceptions.
And they’re fighting to overcome the feelings of isolation and helplessness that keep citizens from working for positive change.
The bleakness that befell the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood in recent years has caused some residents to retreat into their homes and hope things will get better on their own.
But it hasn’t stopped a growing number of residents from getting out and working to improve their community.
One of those groups is Residents for Community Change (RCC). A 25-person group founded in 2006, RCC brings together residents of several streets that run between Union, Kinsman and part of Benham Avenues in Cleveland.
Aided by the Mt. Pleasant Community Zone (known in the neighborhood as "The Zone"), a nonprofit initiative supported as one of the transformational initiatives of the Saint Luke’s Foundation, RCC has banded together with street groups in the neighborhood to change things for the better.
Residents lead the charge to change.
“At one point (in the 60’s and 70’s),
the street clubs were huge and did a lot of projects,” explains RCC
chairperson Catherine Gibson-Powell. “Now you only have a few members on each
street club, but we’ve started to come together. Mary Landers (outreach worker
for the Mt. Pleasant Community Zone) was very helpful in helping us to organize
and become strong again.”
One recent accomplishment of the group was a traffic light installed at the intersection of East 110th and Union.
“That was important because we had a very high accident rate
there,” says Johnny Jackson, whose East 110th Street Club was also
part of efforts that made the project happen.
Another accomplishment, in an effort to improve safety and reduce crime, was having the traffic patterns on several streets changed from two-way to one-way.
“They’re not large streets,” says Gibson-Powell. “There’s a lot of traffic, a lot of children, (and undesirable activity) and so the one-way streets were designed to help the flow of traffic and also to cut down on the crime.”
Gibson-Powell says police can still enter the streets from either end, but the traffic pattern of one-way streets (all running in the same direction and emptying into another one-way street) is designed to keep criminals moving towards one point, making it easier for police to corral them before they have a chance to fan out and escape.
In addition to curtailing undesirable activity, the street direction changes improved the safety of the neighborhood’s children.
“We were looking at the issue of safety,” says Gibson-Powell. “Our kids don’t have a lot of places to play, and most of the time they play in the streets. So (the one way streets) did help with that as well.”
The "Zone" brings organization, focus.
Gibson-Powell’s group and others turned to the Mt. Pleasant Community Zone to help organize and focus their efforts.
“What we were excited about is the process that they went through to get it done,” says Debra Lewis-Curlee, executive director of the Zone, which provided the group with information and organizational support.
“When you don’t have information, you don’t know how to address an issue,”
Lewis-Curlee notes. “We know that the more information a group has,
the more information they spread. Information reduces isolation.”
Gibson-Powell appreciates the help the Zone provided, since the process of changing street patterns was a complicated one. It took the groups from community meetings to petitions to sit-downs with the city’s safety director. But their perseverance paid off.
“We had a lot of meetings,” says Gibson-Powell. “It was a long process. We were also grateful to (Ward 3 councilman) Zach Reed. Zach came out and supported us, and with his help we were able to get it done. Between Zach and the Mt. Pleasant Community Zone we were able to accomplish the goals that we had set.”
Just as important as those accomplishments – which also include safety lighting and beautification projects – is the encouraging effect they have on the neighborhood.
“The street clubs, when they put the one-way signs up, people began to feel a little safer,” says Lewis-Curlee. “When they add the lights in front of their house, the whole street is lit up. You feel a lot safer to get out and mingle with other residents.”
Attitudes are changing.
“We’ve been having picnics, inviting the neighborhood
children,” Gibson-Powell explains. “We’ve been trying to get the
youth interested in keeping up the neighborhood like it used to be…trying
to get pride in the neighborhood and just reworking what was.”
Lewis-Curlee has noticed a change in attitudes and attendance at the various community meetings she attends. Whereas in the past people used to just come in and sit down by themselves, they’ve gradually formed new relationships and friendships with each other, growing stronger and more confident in the process.
“We know each other now,” she says. “It’s that gradual process. I used to go to meetings and know very few. Now I go and know a whole bunch of people there.”
Because these group leaders know a good idea can come from anywhere, they encourage all residents to attend and contribute.
“That’s why we get together every month,” says Johnny Jackson about his street club. “To come up with suggestions to continue to improve.
“You don’t have to come just to get into what we’re doing, you can bring your own ideas. We can listen to you, and grow in your direction.”
Gibson-Powell says that reaching out to people is the key, not just to growing the groups but to empower people to know they can make a difference.
“It’s just a matter of reaching out to people,” she says. “We try to
do it by being a good neighbor and then getting them to come to meetings
and seeing that they’re not alone.”
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