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No other single community improvement effort is as effective in improving the overall quality of life as cleaning up the trash. Litter is not only unsightly, it is unhealthy. Litter drives down property values and reduces business revenue. It attracts crime, and creates the perception that trash, crime and disorder is tolerated in the neighborhood. Worse, litter attracts more litter. These are the reasons Westport Community Partnerships is making its cleaning initiatives a top priority.
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In an unprecedented neighborhood cleaning initiative, Westport Community Partnerships and the Living Classrooms Foundation’s Project SERVE have come together to establish a Clean Team in Westport. Beginning on September 22, 2008, the Clean Team has been working full time, Monday through Friday, to clean up
Westport and keep it clean. Four workers and one supervisor are cleaning up the trash, pulling weeds and cutting back overgrown grass throughout the neighborhood. |
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As soon as meeting facilities are ready, (currently under construction), the Living Classrooms Foundation’s
Workforce
Development
Center will open in
Westport. Then the process will begin to replace the initial Clean Team workers with
Westport residents who apply and qualify for the Project SERVE program. This is a winning initiative on many levels! (Learn more about the Workforce Development program.)
This extraordinary effort is currently being funded in full by Westport Waterfront Development for a period of at least three months. In the meantime, Westport Community Partnerships together with the Living Classrooms Foundation are exploring grants, foundation awards and other potential sources of funding to keep the Clean Team working in
Westport indefinitely. |
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Take notice of the remarkable difference in the cleanliness of the neighborhood already! Look for the Clean Team in their khaki pants and black polo shirts and welcome them to
Westport. Support their efforts by doing your part to keep
Westport clean. |
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corner trash cans
As one of the first steps in the effort to revitalize the neighborhood, Westport Community Partnerships worked with the city's Bureau of Solid Waste to have corner trash cans installed on street corners along Annapolis Road. New Victor Stanley cans were installed, (a step up from the old mesh cans), in late June 2008. |
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community clean-ups
Westport Community Partnerships joined forces with neighborhood groups to organize a very successful neighborhood clean-up in April 2008, cleaning the streets, sidewalks, gutters and alleys of Westport, and enjoying donuts and coffee too. Check out the Community Clean-Up Photo Album and see just some of the folks who took broom in hand that Saturday morning. |
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and more...
Westport Community Partnerships will continue to work with the city and other nonprofit partners to find ways to keep Westport clean! Including having inmate crews do clean sweeps of the neighborhood and trash boats collect the trash out of the Middle Branch. With all of these programs in place, together with the help and support of the neighbors who live here, Westport has the potential to be the cleanest neighborhood in Baltimore!
volunteer
Join in the effort to keep Westport clean!
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