To revitalize Buffalo’s eastside with multiple projects that can potentially expand awareness of poverty, community, environment, and employment our first project is to place an array of trash cans and recycling bins throughout most of our eastside main streets in order to promote health and wellness. Although some lots are owned by residents of Buffalo others are owned by the city which are neglected, leaving the community to suffer economically, physically, and aesthetically. We plan a sweep of vacant lots which plague our streets with trash and hazardous materials. To involve the community we asked residents how they felt about their neighborhood, communal unity, and cleanliness. One resident stated that it was unpleasant to stand on their back porch and “sees filth everywhere”. To help us with this effort we intend to involve our local police to contribute to learn about the environment, gain confidence within the community, and establish relations hips with the people whom they are servicing. We spoke to another resident who commented on the lack of communication and controlled distribution of wealth in Buffalo. The visual difference between commercialized areas & their surrounding neighborhoods are dramatically obvious versus the eastside areas due to the limitations of residential economy and non-residential business in Erie County. So we have intentions of meeting with other local coalitions who have established themselves within our more thriving areas to understand methods of networking, fundraising, and communal awareness.We plan on discussing our ideas to our city’s government officials to acquire permits for receptacle installation and extending sanitation routes, potentially creating more jobs. Our visual involvement may encourage our community as well as the dormant block clubs that regulate their specified street to be more active. The projects that we are pursuing if carried out consistently will overtime instill in our community pride and oneness.
Our story is one of observation and indirect effects. Within our community we are constantly reminded that there is nothing and those who've lived here will be nothing. Motivation is either scarce or suppressed by self-doubt. Today, May 15th, we rode our streets, asking our community how they felt about our environment and unsurprisingly many were ones of negative reflection. I, Savion, a hometown resident has always been affected by the waste within my community. Two weeks ago I moved from my housing project looking to recycle a multitude of materials, but was unwilling to do so because of my city's lack of recycling centers and those within. I had to travel to Tonawanda which resides on the outskirts of Buffalo which is unattainable by the rest of the inner city residents who may not have access to a car or even knowledge that the centers even exist, forcing people to throw their furniture and electronics into lots and streets. I, Jamiah have experienced the effects of the waste within my community by being very disappointed and unsatisfied by its aesthetics.I would love to see my city looking strong and healthy for a change! It seems like on these main streets and even in the side-streets, filth is literally everywhere and I question why this so. There are so many complaints about this debris issue and by creating this idea, we hope to plant awareness into the communities' mind that it is time to clean up our neighborhoods. We believe that this mess is detrimental to property value, the prosperity of local business, and human health. "To wait has almost always meant never" and WE'RE NOT WAITING ANY LONGER! We want to infect everyone with a sense of awareness and humanity, showing any individual or group that they have the power to produce change. ~MOSQUITO
