City residents collaborate to keep neighborhood clean

When Catherine Toppel became director of the City’s Department of Code Enforcement in 2003, one of the first meetings she attended involved Near Northwest Neighborhood residents, who were proposing an effort to beautify their neighborhood.

What truly was innovative about their approach, Toppel says, was that the residents took the initiative to clean up their neighborhood and asked their municipal government for support.

Photo courtesy of City of South Bend

“So many communities or citizens expect the City to do all the work. This was brought to us by the neighborhood, which said we want the City to help us because we can’t do it alone,” Toppel says. “It is unique in that the neighbors really took control of it, and they still do. … They understood that it takes the neighborhood to keep it a neighborhood.”

This Saturday, April 16, a few hundred residents will blanket the streets of the Near Northwest Neighborhood to kick off the ninth year of Adopt-a-Block. The nationally innovative neighborhood cleanup program encourages residents to work together to beautify the community, commit to six annual cleanups and build relationships. Neighborhood residents, groups, schools, businesses or service organizations “adopt” a street and organize cleanups. It’s a partnership between the Near Northwest Neighborhood and several City of South Bend departments.

Adopt-a-Block was developed by NNN residents in collaboration with the City of South Bend’s Department of Code Enforcement. Introduced in 2003 as part of Mayor Steve Luecke’s Clean City Initiative, Adopt-a-Block gained national recognition in 2006 when the Department of Code Enforcement received the Outstanding Achievement in Code Enforcement Techniques Award from the American Association of Code Enforcement. The program also was a finalist in the National League of Cities’ 2006 Awards for Municipal Excellence.

“It’s a great way for us to make connections and build relationships among neighbors,” says Karen Ainsley, executive director of the Near Northwest Neighborhood Inc. “There are so many other positive things about this program besides picking up litter.”

During the program’s first year, about 50 volunteers adopted 14 blocks for cleanup. Last year, a record 130 blocks were adopted, and 200 to 300 volunteers picked up 90 cubic yards of litter and debris.

The work begins with a light breakfast and kickoff at the NNN offices. The City provides trash bags, rakes, safety equipment, work gloves and training. Solid Waste trucks collect assembled debris immediately during a four-hour period Saturday morning. South Bend Police also provide additional patrols to ensure safety of people working in alleys and along busier streets. Each year, Code Enforcement officers adopt a block of their own — the 700 block of Harrison Street.

Photo courtesy of City of South Bend

“What it does for the Near Northwest Neighborhood is: If you drive through the neighborhood now, you’ll see a lot of debris left over from the winter snow,” Toppel says. “When you drive through after Adopt-a-Block, it’s spotless.”

Other neighborhoods have tried to replicate the program, too. A good example is the Saint Casimir Parish National Register District near West Sample Street, which has an active effort.

Toppel notes that the work of volunteers often inspires non-participating neighbors to join in — or put in extra effort keeping their own properties clean. Code Enforcement officers have seen that result firsthand.

“The workload in this neighborhood after the Adopt-a-Block kickoff drops dramatically as far as citing of trash and debris,” she says. “It’s a dramatic change.”