NEIGHBORHOOD STORIES

Keep Indianapolis Beautiful Donation Stories

Here are just a few stories showing the impact your KIB contribution has on individuals and communities throughout Indianapolis.

Near Northwest side resident Claudette Young joined up with Keep Indianapolis Beautiful to maintain and beautify her neighborhood through KIB’s Adopt-a-Block program.

“When I came to this neighborhood 14 years ago, it was so blighted — windows boarded up and things falling off the houses. After four years of working with Adopt-a-Block, trash is still a problem in the alleys, but in the streets neighbors saw us picking up trash in front of our houses and in front of theirs, and they started doing it too! I got my son involved cleaning up and beautifying the medians, and the neighbors started working on the medians too!”

Throughout the city of Indianapolis, residents like Claudette are taking this message to heart and to the streets. With the help of Keep Indianapolis Beautiful and your financial support, individuals are taking it upon themselves to maintain their blocks, in an effort to make our city a more beautiful place to live.

A $10 contribution provides 12 pairs of gloves to help a team of neighbors get started beautifying their block and strengthening their neighborhood.

On June 23, 2007, Paige Booker Park was officially dedicated as a pocket park, thanks to the teamwork of the RMS10 Neighborhood Association and KIB. The park was created to celebrate the life of Paige Booker, an infant who died of a heart defect when she was seven weeks old. Deb and Chris Banfield, her grandparents, saw the need for community greenspace and donated the land to the neighborhood.

The land had held renters previously who burned down the property when evicted, leaving it a community eyesore. Paige Booker Park is now ringed with trees, and has a vine-covered picnic shelter with cooking facilities. A playground area serves youth, and reminds visitors of the life the park celebrates.

The process of transforming the lot was a catalyst for community change for this Eastside neighborhood. “This project has mobilized our community,” says neighborhood leader Eric Scott. “Residents…now feel a sense of community by working together for a common goal and, in the process, are getting to know each other…[W]hen we work together, we can accomplish anything…this is just the beginning of positive change for this area."

With a $30 donation, you can purchase 2 cubic yards of mulch that will protect a pocket park like Paige Booker Park, helping to maintain a community greenspace beloved by the neighborhood.