Video Credit: Brian Myers, Media Arts Center San Diego
By Brian Myers
The alley south of El Cajon Boulevard between 48th Street and Estrella Avenue received some much needed attention recently.
Armed with brooms and dustpans, residents from the surrounding neighborhood converged at the alley for a cleanup.
The event was part of an ongoing effort by SAY San Diego to improve allies in City Heights.
Mike Handforth of the Colina Park Neighborhood Association said the alley suffers from illegal dumping.
“There’s always some degree of dumping going on and sometimes it’s large amounts,” he said.
Handforth helped organize the cleanup event, along with community center Bridge of Hope with support from City Farmers Nursery.
Urban Corps, a youth job training program, hauled away bags of trash and mattresses illegally dumped in the alley.
Handforth said it was more than cleaning an ugly alley. It was an opportunity to meet his neighbors.
“We’re all around and we got each other’s back,” he said. “We’re all looking out for each other.”