DETROIT – People living along a street in Detroit are determined not to be left behind during the city's revitalization. To them, that means going above and beyond to keep their neighborhood clean.
Kelvin Heath said this is his neighborhood.
“Second and Euclid to the Lodge Service Drive," Heath said. "This neighborhood is considered Piety Hill. Some people consider it New Center, and then some people call it Midtown."
It really depends on whom you ask and what part of town they’re from. The neighborhood sits next to Downtown Detroit and Midtown so, of course, the residents have seen the revitalization all around them.
“When we moved into the neighborhood, we noticed there was a lot of litter and trash in the area, and we decided, 'We've got to do something about this,'” Heath said.
That's how the Keep Euclid Clean Project started. Residents who see trash on the ground are simply asked to pick it up and throw it away in one of the 12 trash cans lined up along the street.
“Each neighbor kind of maintains each container, so whoever is close by, they kind of maintain it,” Heath said. “People utilized them. Sometimes they drop something and then they get out and put it in the cans."
At first, the plan was just about tidying up the area, but then a bigger message was picked up.
“I always say a safe community is a clean community," Heath said. "So the cleaner you keep it, the less people mess with it, and they’ll say, 'You know what? Somebody cares about this neighborhood.'"