The 16ft x 60ft lot at 859 E. Willard Street (the intersection of Shelbourne and Willard) has long been a notorious illegal dumping corner, collecting contractor debris, trash, and weeds.
Located in a majority Black, Latino, and low-income community, it is a magnet for blight in a neighborhood already carrying more than its share.
Revive and Thrive is a three year pilot program that brings neighbors together to turn a vacant lot into something useful, inviting, and cared for — while preventing the dumping that often plagues these spaces.
Residents will help imagine what the lot could become, pitch in during build days, and take part in events that spotlight local stories and solutions.
Thomas Jefferson University’s Park in a Truck (PIAT) program, Circular Philadelphia, Trash Academy, and Glitter have partnered to offer this pilot program to demonstrate that low cost activations of unused lots, is an effective way for communities to create spaces they want, that also prevent dumping and normalize care.
Klean Kensington has been doing this type of work for several years, in collaboration with their neighbors, and will be a strong partner in this pilot project.
This youth-powered neighborhood group pays local teenagers to transform neglected lots into gardens that serve the community.
Their work puts resources directly in the hands of young people and neighbors who know the community best. Klean Kensington has done similar projects with several other area lots.
Klean Kensington expects to start clean up activities in early spring and open the garden in summer 2026.
Local neighbor-funded block cleaning service Glitter will provide weekly cleanings as well as document litter levels before, during, and after the build out of the park to measure changes in litter levels in the area.
Trash Academy will hold dumping prevention education and workshops and PIAT will facilitate the design process, while Circular Philadelphia will document the model project to enable replication.
“I know many kids who live on Willard and neighboring blocks, and they walk past this dumping corner constantly,” said Jeremy Chen, Klean Kensington’s Executive Director who lives two blocks away from the lot. “We want to make this a drug-free space that they frequent for a peaceful place to read, enjoy the flowers and butterflies, and the colorful space.”
Klean Kensington in collaboration and with support of PIAT plans to turn the space into a vibrant, kid-centered garden that could include a pollinator garden with benches, bright art, planter boxes, and a durable trash setup that shuts down illegal dumping.
Teens and neighborhood kids will help shape the design, survey nearby residents, and serve as ambassadors to keep the space active and welcoming.
By activating the sidewalk, adding color, and giving young people a place to gather, the project aims to flip a troubled corner into a community asset.
To ensure that the garden remains in good condition and is stewarded by the people who live there, the organizers will hire two local Community Managers and two or three local high school students as Park Ambassadors.
Esperanza Health Center, which currently owns the lot, supports this project.
“Esperanza is so excited for this project – to see the creativity of the youth of Kensington as they remove the blight of this property and renew it with life-bringing works of beauty,” said Susan Post, Esperanza Health Center’s CEO. “We joyfully anticipate seeing this practical transformation in our Kensington community, realizing it is just a glimpse of the many things the youth will do in the future.”
“Philly residents want to transform and use vacant land to prevent dumping, but getting access and permission can be a challenge,” said Lois Williams, Trash Academy. “This project can demonstrate how neighbors with low budgets, on privately owned lots, can make a difference. It’s a win-win for the city and neighbors to end illegal dumping.”
Click Here for video and Photos from Klean Kensington.
Statistics
-- Approximately 1 in 20 properties in Philadelphia is vacant, according to Philadelphia Landbank statistics
-- Philadelphia has 40,000 vacant lots
-- The vacant properties are heavily concentrated in North and Southwest Philadelphia, which are historically communities of color and the most underserved areas in the city. See Philadelphia Litter Index.
-- Philadelphia spends $48 million annually on clean-up-related activities, with 88% of the budget allocated toward abatement rather than prevention or enforcement
-- In 2021, the city picked up 7,100 tons of illegally dumped waste and 83,600 tires from 1,309 sites, at an estimated cost of $8.3 million dollars
-- The rate of illegal dumping complaints in Philadelphia is three times higher than in New York or Chicago
Lead support is provided by the William Penn Foundation.
Additional Background
Trash Academy is a resident-led, intergenerational collaboratory that brings together neighbors, artists, activists, and organizers to confront trash and its broader impacts.
The initiative builds understanding of litter, consumption, and the waste stream while advancing environmental justice and policy change.
Through participatory research, workshops, games, and public art, Trash Academy engages highly impacted Philadelphia communities and drives campaigns that divert materials from incinerators and landfills and support a more circular system.
Circular Philadelphia drives a thriving circular economy in the greater Philadelphia region through advocacy, infrastructure development, market transformation, and education.
By promoting smart policy, innovation, and action, Circular Philadelphia aims to transform Philadelphia’s linear economy to an efficient and resilient circular economy of the future.
Circular Philadelphia comprises materials management and circular economy professionals who bring together individuals, businesses, manufacturers, institutions, local government, and policy makers to create the market conditions necessary for the circular economy to thrive.
Jefferson’s Park in a Truck (PiaT) initiative is transforming how social, ecological, and economic networks in Philadelphia are designed, built, and sustained.
Led by the Thomas Jefferson University Landscape Architecture Program, PiaT is a community-operated green network created through low-cost, fast-turnaround revitalizations of under-utilized lots.
Glitter is a neighborhood-funded block litter cleaning service that empowers communities to take collective action for cleaner, safer streets.
Launched in 2021, Glitter uses a “pay-what-you-can” model that allows neighbors to contribute what they can individually afford toward a block-wide subscription service for weekly sidewalk cleaning while creating living-wage jobs for people with barriers to employment.
With 1,400+ neighbor-subscribers across Philadelphia, Glitter cleans hundreds of blocks a week powered by 34 cleaners earning on average $30 an hour plus a profit sharing bonus.
By combining grassroots engagement with measurable environmental and social impact,
Glitter is proving that block-by-block, we can build stronger, more hopeful communities together.
Esperanza Health Center our mission is to improve environmental, social, and physical health in under-resourced neighborhoods while empowering residents to lead the design, building, and stewardship of their own public spaces.
Related Articles This Week:
-- Westminster College Honors Student Research And Creative Works At 18th Student Symposium On The Environment [PaEN]
[Posted: December 16, 2025] PA Environment Digest
No comments :
Post a Comment