The streets are cleaner and flowers are blooming in the 800 block of Chestnut Street, thanks to the efforts of a Reading church and its neighbors.
Members of Concilio Pentecostal El Lugar De Refucio recently lined the block with nine planters, overflowing with bright blooms and greens.
Placed on both sides of Chestnut, they extend from Peach Street east to South Ninth Street and are part of the church’s ongoing effort to beautify the area, said the Rev. Samuel Rivera, who pastors the church with his wife, the Rev. Clara Rivera.
Rivera made the containers from discarded tires and painted them in bright colors with Bible verses and words of hope and inspiration.
“We are taking it step by step,” he said of the changes church members are making in the block.
The congregation bought and remodeled the former Liederkrantz German club, 834 Chestnut St., as a house of worship 25 years ago, he said, and slowly began improving the neighborhood.
The church not only spruced up the former club building, but also bought and rehabilitated four dilapidated apartment houses in the block.
“We are just trying to create a positive atmosphere here,” Rivera said.
And the congregation in July stepped up to serve as block captains under the city’s Adopt a Block program.
The initiative aims at engaging residents in efforts to keep Reading’s streets, sidewalks, parks and playgrounds cleaner and safer, said Ryan Bradley, clean city coordinator.
Residents, businesses and organizations can volunteer to serve as block captains and coordinate ongoing cleanups in their immediate neighborhoods.
But even before adopting the block, members of the church regularly swept the sidewalks and tidied in the area.
As they worked, business owners in the block, including Elvin Lantigua, owner of the Chestnut Mini Market at 845 Chestnut St., and Robert Henriquez, owner of Shorty’s Barber Shop at 828 Chestnut St., took notice and offered to help, Rivera said.
Residents, too, pitched in.
“There’s a ripple effect,” Bradley said.
Justo de Jesus, who owns and lives in a home on the block is among those who routinely pick up litter.
The neighborhood has come a long way since he moved there 15 years, de Jesus said.
It looked seedy then, he noted, with sidewalks strewn with trash and numerous shabby, neglected buildings.
“When I moved here from New York, everything was bad,” he said. “But now it’s a different story.”
In addition to cleaning up litter, church members and residents formed a neighborhood watch group to help prevent crime in the area, he said.
Such efforts help create a sense of community among the neighbors, many of whom attend the church, he said.
Residents look out for each other and lend a hand when needed.
For example, Rivera said, they joined in spring to plant front and rear gardens for a neighbor who was having trouble keeping up with yard maintenance.
The well-cared-for appearance and friendly feeling of the block are what attracted Alicia Feblea. A relative newcomer to the block, she rents one of the church-owned apartments.
Feblea cares for the planters by watering and weeding them as needed.
And judging by the stockpile of tires stacked behind the church, she may soon be caring for more.
Plans are to make additional planters to also beautify the block west of Peach Street, Rivera said.
Source: Berkshire mont