Spring Cleaning Hits The Hill

Cigarette butts, bottle caps, plastic wrappers, and needles disappeared throughout the Hill as part of a spring cleaning event that took place at four locations in the neighborhood Saturday.

Volunteers from the Hill North Community Management Team, Clifford Beers Clinic, the APT Foundation, and Quinnipiac Students were stationed picking up trash around John C. Daniels School, the Thomas Chapel Peace Garden, Stevens Street and Elliot Street.

First they gathered at the Hallock Street police substation, then split up to cover as much of the neighborhood as they could.

One group of four Quinnipiac University first-years focused on cleaning the playground and field behind John C. Daniels. Student Sydney Plante said that by two hours in, her legs were tired and hands were cramping. Scouring the fence and playground, Plante filled two large trash bags with bottle caps, cigarette butts, and food bags.

Plante said she also found broken glass, five needles, and a bullet near the playground.

Quinnipiac Freshman Makayla Kiss said she also stumbled across some syringes behind the school. ​“Kids shouldn’t be around all this stuff. Hopefully, this cleanup will also be a good pick-me-up for the neighborhood as a whole.”

Volunteers were instructed to leave any needles on the side so that volunteers from the APT Foundation could properly dispose of them. APT Foundation Substance Abuse clinicians Anthony Streater, Jeanette Duckson, and Dominic Vitelli, and Director Kathy Eggert picked up the syringes and other hazardous material with special sterile gloves and containers.

The team was especially surprised by the amount of dog poop they scooped up by the playground.

Eggert said in total they found a few handfuls of needles around the school. ​“It’s a really good thing for the community,” Eggert said. ​“Kids deserve to be in a clean area and it’s good to get some fresh air.”

Streater, who has grandchildren in the area, said community clean-up events are a ​“positive influence” for kids as well. ​“They realize that their grandfather is across the street cleaning the park that they play in. So that’s an incentive for them when they see somebody else drop trash to tell them to use a trash can instead.”

Leslie Radcliffe of the Hill North Community Management Team helped organize the groups of student volunteers from Quinnipiac for the clean-up. She said the management team was in contact with Clifford Beers and Quinnipiac to use the help from Quinnipiac volunteers in the Hill neighborhood. ​“We said, ​‘What can we do without having to do a whole lot of organizing? We can pick up trash!’”

Radcliffe said they chose to center the clean-up around John C. Daniels School because of how often the community uses the property and because of the ​“not-so-good activity” that takes place there.

“During the wintertime, everyone is hunkered down. But that was when we started noticing, as the snow started melting, all of the garbage that’s accumulated.” Because folks were especially hunkered down due to Covid-19 this winter, Radcliffe said, the garbage piled up even more than usual.

“If we can work with our community to keep on top of things on a regular basis, it won’t become this large of an issue. Along with that, we want to help educate and encourage folks that it’s not only good looking to clean up, but it’s good for the environment.”

Meanwhile, in the Thomas Chapel Church Community Prayer Garden on White Street, Trustee Chairperson and Co-Chair of Hill North Management Team Dr. Pamela Monk Kelley led a team of 10 clean-up volunteers.

Kelley said the garden ​“transformed” thanks to the cleaning event. She added that the highlight for her was helping to plant new vegetable seeds after the trash was picked up.

Along Elliot Street, a group of three Quinnipiac students, Livable City Initiative (LCI) Neighborhood Specialist Arthur Natalino Jr., and Clifford Beers Community Health Organizer JoAnne Wilcox cleared away litter along the sidewalks and drains. In two hours they filled eight large trash bags with masks, gloves, fast food containers, Hershey wrappers, and cigarette butts. 

Quinnipiac student Naomi Julca said she thought it was important to pick up the trash ​“to keep our environment clean.”

Natalino has been part of community clean-ups in the past. ​“They’re very effective for the community,” he said. ​“When you’re out here on the ground, residents appreciate it.”

Olga Romero, who lives on Davenport Avenue, came outside to thank the volunteers and offer them water.

“Our neighbors around here are pretty good about cleaning as much as we can, but people always just litter,” Romero said.

In her 11 years living on Davenport, she said, this year was the worst litter she has seen. She said she thinks it was worse this year because Covid-19 required more people to use plastic bags, masks, and gloves.

Romero is also concerned about needles that are tossed into her lawn and in the street. Her grandchildren come over to play often, so her husband has to throw out syringes he finds in the yard each morning. 

“And it’s sad, because the school is right there. That’s my biggest concern about those needles at that school.”