One block at a time: Building hope and creating safe passage in Kensington

The vacant lot across from Christy Hoffmann’s Kensington row home was recently transformed into a green oasis. Raised garden beds and saplings punctuate the cut grass. And open space, rare on dense city blocks like Clearfield Street, invites local neighbors to meet, play, and recreate.

It was barely six months ago, Hoffmann remembers, when the lot was filled with drug users, trash, and disposed syringes. Visible from her front window on Clearfield Street, the blight was a daily reminder that her family lived near one of the largest open-air drug markets in the eastern United States.

At the time, Hoffmann and her neighbors wanted to make changes, but they lacked support and organization; no one knew where to begin. The problems seemed intractable. “We wanted to do so much, but we didn’t have the resources or equipment to do it,” she said.

For as long as anyone can remember, drugs and crime have plagued Clearfield Street. Even before the problem of the blighted lot, boarded-up homes on the block attracted a steady stream of unwanted activity that frequently spilled into the street.

“It was a place where people used and dealt,” said Hoffmann, who moved to the block to work as a missionary with her husband and four children. “Seeing all the trash in there and the needles and the drugs – it was discouraging.”

In fact, the lot was so problematic that neighbors would avoid walking along Clearfield Street altogether, choosing longer routes to the shops on Kensington Avenue or to the elevated train station (“the El”) at Kensington and Allegheny Avenues.

But with help from partners Philadelphia LISC, New Kensington CDC (NKCDC) and Impact Services (Impact) Hoffmann and her neighbors turned the once-blighted lot into a community green space – a yard for neighbors and their children. Armed with resolve, determination and support, neighbors were able to reclaim their block, in spite of the deep-seated issues in Kensington that make headlines. In turn, they learned that gradual, community-led changes are central to the revitalization process.

“It’s been like a beacon,” said Hoffmann, describing the transformed lot. “It’s hope.”

“In Kensington, where the complexities of crime and safety are especially acute, the success on Clearfield Street is a powerful example of what it means to empower neighbors to take back their neighborhoods,” said Melissa Kim, who manages the Community Safety program at Philadelphia LISC.

Although community safety is a priority for residents in Kensington, it has long been a struggle to maintain. Poverty is a primary reason. Other causes are equally complicated.

As a national conversation highlights the sharp rise in heroin use, little attention has been paid to efforts that address the underlying economic and social challenges in neighborhoods beset by drug addiction and the drug economy. The heroin dealers and users attracted to Kensington often come from elsewhere, flocking to Kensington because it is an impoverished, disinvested neighborhood, historically redlined by banks and unfairly represented by the media.

More rarely covered in the press are stories of Kensington residents such as Hoffmann who organize and work with nonprofits, government, and other allies to reclaim their neighborhoods.

But even then, the challenges can be daunting. Though Hoffmann and her fellow neighbors secured support and momentum, the path to transformation was not a linear one.

For years, abandoned homes on the lot — an unrivaled eyesore — sheltered crime and unwanted activity. In 2011, with support from the City of Philadelphia and other partners, Impact took steps to raze them. While the move helped to eliminate blight, the users and dealers stayed, operating in the rubble of the former homes.

The breakthrough came last year, when Impact and NKCDC worked together for the first time as part of a SafeGrowth® training, organized by the Philadelphia Commerce Department and Philadelphia LISC. There, NKCDC and Impact learned to make simple, cost-effective strategic changes in the physical environment, such as improving lighting, sight lines, and beautification.

“But more than the physical changes,” explained LISC's Kim, “SafeGrowth® is effective because residents take ownership of the space, sending a message that the neighborhood won’t tolerate criminal activity.”

As NKCDC and Impact assessed problem areas in Kensington, applying the SafeGrowth® model on Clearfield Street became a shared priority. According to police data, much of the neighborhood’s crime was concentrated “within a 500-foot radius of [the Clearfield] lots,” said Rolando Sanchez, Impact’s manager of the Kensington Avenue commercial corridor. By targeting their efforts there, the team had the chance to impact safety across the neighborhood.

Another key factor aided the changes. In early 2016, Philadelphia LISC designated Kensington as a focus neighborhood, presenting an opportunity for deeper collaboration between Impact and NKCDC. To begin their partnership, the two nonprofits redoubled their efforts on Clearfield Street. LISC provided a grant and additional technical support to jump-start the project.

This time around, neighbors like Hoffmann were at the helm of the transformation. In May, to kick off the efforts, “We got the kids on [nearby] Potter Street to help us weed and clean,” said Hoffmann.

Staff members from Impact took charge of clearing debris, and NKCDC volunteered their mini bulldozer to level the ground. Volunteers from LISC also pitched in, lending elbow grease to plant trees and fix a rear fence on their annual “Day of Service.”

Neighbors now use the reclaimed lot as their collective front lawn, and they have accepted the responsibilities that come along with a shared green space. On an almost daily basis, Hoffmann clears stray trash and debris. Her husband regularly mows the lawn. Other neighbors organize games for local children, and there are plans for a mural and a shaded sitting area. They have also chosen another nearby lot for a thorough overhaul.

This kind of day-to-day ownership demonstrated by residents is essential to the long-term success of a SafeGrowth® project, explained Sanchez. “Community is key. The community has to want it and be willing to commit to it.”

In Kensington, the commitment of residents has allowed Impact Services, NKCDC, and LISC to move into the background. Clearfield neighbors, once afraid to venture from their front stoops, have learned to rely on one another.

“I’ve met new neighbors on other side streets who are thanking us for the process,” said Hoffmann. “To continue to be invested in it is just awesome.”