Sitemap“I like helping the community and butterflies,” said Sha’lamar Vaughn, who was one of about a dozen young people, age 11-13, who worked this summer to transform two adjoining vacant lots into a nature park for people and a way station for monarch butterflies on their annual trek from Canada to Mexico.
“All I wanted to do was make some friends and help the community. I want people to come and enjoy this,” said Bella Pierce, 10, a student at Montessori School of the Mahoning Valley. Sha’lamar, 11, is a student at Akiva Academy.
Officially known as the Ohio Avenue Butterfly Project, the summer-long effort was funded through a Youth Greening Grant to the Know Your Neighbor Block Watch, sponsored by the Youngstown Neighborhood Development Corp. and the University of Michigan, in collaboration with the Mahoning County Land Bank and the City of Youngstown.
Also instrumental in the project was Adamczak Landscaping, which created four island mounds after the lot was cleaned up by the children and adult helpers from the neighborhood. Three of the mounds were planted with flowers native to the Youngstown area and the fourth, with milkweeds.
The milkweed attracts monarchs as a place to lay their eggs, said Joyce Davidson, executive director of the Know Your Neighbor Block Watch. The group is in the process of changing its name to the Know Your Neighbor Collaboration.
Davidson said the cleanup started June 13, and the project was finished about a week ago.
The kids had assignments to learn what butterflies and plants are native to the area, Davidson said.
“We got all the plants in, and then there was no rain. So I loaded water onto our old pickup truck and the kids each had water cans to water the plants,” she said.
Three of the four planting islands are named for butterflies: Monarch, Northern Blue and Swallowtail, and the fourth is named Milkweed Island.
The Butterfly Project is easily identifiable by painted tires in the shape and colors of a monarch.
The ribbon-cutting and celebration of completion of the project, at the intersection of Ohio and West Dennick avenues, on Youngstown’s North Side, was from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday.
It included “The Four Stages of a Butterfly,” as presented by the young people and written by Bella, daughter of Dean Pierce and Jennifer Mondora.
Pierce said he is proud of Bella and the rest of the kids, who he said worked on the project part of three days a weeks all summer.
“If they had to be here at 8 a.m., they were up and ready to go. It was a great learning experience for them to understand what they were doing and why ... how they were helping the butterflies, the neighborhood and the environment,” said Pierce.
The Ohio Avenue Butterfly Project is something the kids can be proud of, said Councilman Nate Pinkard, D-3rd, in whose ward the project is located.
“I’d like to think the Butterfly Project will be contagious,” said Pinkard, who is not the only one who hopes it will trigger more students and groups to take on neighborhood projects.
“The kids realize we value them and what they do,” said Davidson.
“I think the Butterfly Project is an excellent start for what Youngstown is capable of doing,” said Na’eem Shaheed, chairman of the Know Your Neighbor Block Watch, which like some others, is changing its name to association.
“My dream is to help these kids reach their full potential, like the butterfly. There is nothing they can’t accomplish if we support them and get rid of the hate and be more loving,” Shaheed said.
Organizers, and the children themselves, say they hope the project helps bring the neighborhood together.
And Debbie Wilson of Elm Street, who said her friend, Mary Hulme of Gypsy Lane, insisted she see the project, was drawn in.
“I marveled at the transformation. I watched the kids take pride in their neighborhood. I never met a better group of people than the Know Your Neighbor Block Watch,” Wilson said.
“I’m happy to see young people make a difference for the future,” said state Rep. Michele Lepore-Hagan, D-58th.
“It’s good for the city, and it’s good for the kids to take leadership in taking care of the planet they will inherit,” she said.
Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally said he is happy to see all the hard work of the children.
“Fixing little plots like this helps fix up the city, one plot at a time,” the mayor said.
“I can’t wait to come back next year and see the monarchs,” McNally said.
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