As part of a constant effort to increase our positive impact in the community, Rose Rock Habitat for Humanity wanted to find a way to beautify the community we call home. One of our newest efforts to do that started on the day of OU’s The Big Event, on April 2nd of 2022.
The inconvenience and mess of new construction can be an obstacle to affordable housing being built in a neighborhood. Residents of established neighborhoods are understandably frustrated with the increased noise, clutter, and traffic that construction can bring. With that in mind we teamed up with the City of Norman and teams from Gamma Beta and Lambda Delta Psi at OU to cleanup the block surrounding the site of our home construction on Iowa Street. With their help we cleaned flower beds, planted flowers, painted homes, raked yards, trimmed bushes, and removed trash and debris. Moving forward, Rose Rock Habitat for Humanity intends to adopt similar practices around our construction sites with a program we call Construction Impact Neighborhood Cleanup, or CINC.
Following our cleanup on Iowa Street, we decided to look for a way to help people in rural areas who might need similar services. Rural homes need a lot of maintenance that isn’t always necessary for homes in a suburban community, and the needs of rural residents are often overlooked. Many rural areas lack programs to help seniors and those with disabilities maintain their home, and programs that do exist face logistical challenges. Recognizing these challenges, we created the Rural and Outreach Cleanup program, or ROC.
We reached out to Little Axe Community Center, and they found two families that needed assistance. A group of sailors stationed aboard Tinker Air Force Base teamed up with us and some volunteers from the Achieving Community Enhancement program at Oklahoma Court Services to remove overgrown brush and refuse from the families’ yards and garden beds. Unfortunately, we were so focused on completing the tasks at these homes, we didn’t capture any photographs of the event.
We’re always looking for more neighborhoods to help with maintenance, cleanup, and beautification. Be on the lookout for a postcard that will let you know when we’re coming to your local community. The area we serve is large (and growing) so don’t wait for us to select your neighborhood if you need help. If you think your neighborhood would be a good candidate for this kind of project, send an email to [email protected] or call us at 405-366-2813 (ext. 110).
