TOLEDO, Ohio — East Toledo residents say they have pride in their homes, and they are willing to help the city clean up the neighborhoods. Volunteers partnered with Keep Toledo Beautiful, the Toledo Police Department and other area organizations to rid the business district on Main street of trash.
Their goal: bring east Toledo back to life.
"East Toledoans want to see their neighborhoods revitalized. We want the blight removed, we want the homes updated that are sitting vacant," Gary Lenhart, who has lived in east Toledo for almost 40 years, said.
When Lenhart moved to the area in 1984 for work, he knew it was where he would settle down and make a life for himself.
"I stayed because I love my house, I love the neighborhood and I love east Toledo. I like being close to downtown, the heart of it all," Lenhart said.
His love for the east side is shared by most of his neighbors, many of whom have passed their pride in the area down through generations.
"Many families have multiple generations that have grown up and still live in east Toledo," Lenhart said. "There is a great deal of hidden pride that people really don't understand, it's very passionate. The people that have stayed, our hearts and souls are in this community, so we care about it."
The volunteers cleaned for two hours on Wednesday morning.
Because of city projects like the Glass City Riverwalk, east Toledoans said it's the perfect time to spread the renovation efforts to their neighborhood and reduce blight.
"Blight goes along with crime," Toledo police Lt. Richard Trevino said. "If we can reduce blight effectively, we can try to remove crime as well. And obviously, if we get participation by citizens that's even better because we get them to take ownership of what's going on in their neighborhoods."
There will be a community meeting at the east Toledo Family Center on Thursday at 5 p.m. to discuss future cleanup projects.
The city of Toledo and the Lucas County Land Bank received a $9.8 million state grant for blight reduction in the Glass City.
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