When a vacant lot becomes “A Lot of Respect”
Sep 11th, 2009
All were invited to the Ribbon Cutting Opening Ceremony for the “Lot of Respect” on 19th & Meinecke. The “Lot of Respect” was developed by Neu-Life Community Resource Center and was the outcome of their Safe & Sound youth led Crime Strategy Initiative. The youth identified neighborhood environmental safety and blight as problems they wanted to address. The effort built upon the groups previous successes improving environmental safety by working with city government to address a nearby intersection that was too dangerous for children to cross.
The project team members were made up of the youth leadership group for the Neu-Life Crime Strategy Initiative. They included Ever (age 14), Benny (age 16), Oshauwn (age 15), Jamitrice (age 15), and Andre (age 15). Jody is the Neu-Life Director and helped the group get the project off the ground. A special thank you is order for the UW-Madison Landscape Architecture students who played an integral role in the concept and project development. The lot was also sponsored by the Lindsay Heights Neighborhood Initiative, providing over $800 towards garden materials and supplies as part of the Zilber Neighborhood Initiative.
The grand opening was a great success and work will continue on the lot into the fall.
