Getting Back to the Purpose

Flashback to the summer of 2016. I had just recently gotten back to Memphis and was in full transition mode. Trying to keep up with what was going on in the city and continue to work on being apart of the change I wanted to see. While searching for things to get involved in or write about I came across this new program Mayor Strickland wanted to start in the city. 

"Adopt A Block" was going to be a program that allowed citizens to take action and control of their neighborhoods by fighting blight and ridding their community of litter. Blight and litter that unfortunately mainly consumes our African American neighborhoods. 

With Adopt A  Block you could invest in your own community and aid the city in their mission to make all of Memphis beautiful again. 

I instantly became intrigued about this new initiative and wanted to be involved. I started a Clean-up of my own in 2014 and was looking for a way to direct my energy back into that idea/task that I was given.
This program was the way to do it so, of course I signed up. 

Fast Forward to now and we completed orientation back in mid July for our designated blocks. With Adopt the block you may select a block of your choice for any particular reason and log your efforts. You even get a little goodie bag/starter kit to begin your cleanups. At orientation there were other organizations there that informed us on how they could assist. Memphis City Beautiful has all of your cleanup tools and equipment. If you choose to adopt a block you could contact them in advance so, that they may supply you with garbage bags, gloves, and other items for you to complete a successful cleanup. Also, Code enforcement was there to inform of  different city code violations and how you could help prevent them from happening.
How the United States spends almost 11.5 billion on liter each year or how a neighbor not taking care of their property decreases the value of your entire neighborhood even if other properties are cared for. 

This all increased the severity of being a part of this movement. That and the fact that our community is the one suffering the most. It is our responsibility to change the mentality and the appearance of where our African American Children live. Staying in a "lower income" community shouldn't mean abandon homes, trash, and vandalism. These kids, everyone deserve to live in a community with accept living conditions.

So, below I've shared the link to the Community Affairs Adopt A Block website for more information. Although the program has officially kicked off it IS NOT too late to sign up!  This is an awesome cause to be apart of and even if you don't feel like you want to commit to adopting a block I hope to see you at one of my cleanups or other cleanups that will be arranged. 

Remember to Support each other and to Support all efforts to make OUR City amazing again!

​http://adb.thinkebiznow.com/

---