A stroll to Bailey Avenue and Lovejoy Street might provide a view of something often viewed as commonplace, but community members are saying is an important new feature – garbage receptacles.
Cleaning up garbage and having trash receptacles might seem like a small thing, but it’s an essential part of maintaining a positive atmosphere within a neighborhood, as opposed to just leaving garbage discarded on the ground, said Keiah Shauku, program director for East Buffalo Development Corporation.
The project also fosters collaboration between community groups, like the East Lovejoy Coalition of Neighbors Block Club, and resources like The Foundry nonprofit, she said.
“I think the project overall is about empowering block clubs, aligning them and connecting them with community resources," Shauku said. "Connecting them with resources so that they're able to actually make a difference and do work that really does matter."
The Foundry is an East Side nonprofit that provides students and adults with hands-on learning and entrepreneurship skills.
The project, and others like it, also provides opportunity for youth to gain job experience. The program is a chance for members to build experience welding and the understanding needed for long-term employment, The Foundry Main Manager Drew Brotz said.
“Although we are doing a lot of the skill building with the welding and the metal fabrication, it does come down to a lot of soft skill building," he said. "A lot of folks that we are working with, this could be their first job ... that is one of our goals after the program, that they can take these skills and then hold that long term, wherever they may end up.”
The current capacity is four students who stay with the program up to a year, but the goal is to expand how many students they can work with, and how long the program extends, Brotz said.
