By Christa Delaney
A few blocks off of Gladstone Avenue is a neighbourhood where every front lawn is tidy.
Scarecrows lurk on verandahs, jack-o-lanterns adorn front stoops and orange and yellow wreaths announce fall is in the air on Willow Street.
This is the work of a group of Centretown children, aged four to 14, called the Willow Street Angels. For over two years, the Angels have been picking up litter, planting flowers and decorating for holidays. The group has grown from about 12 children in 1996 to between 30 and 40.
“The street is cleaner looking than it used to be,” says Anh Dinh, an 11 year-old angel. “It is much nicer here now than it was two years ago.
“It makes me feel better about our neighbourhood,” she says.
Anh’s brother Hung Dinh, 9, has also been with the Angels since the group started.
Hung says cleaning up Willow Street is a lot of fun.
“I feel great about it because I get to meet new people and make a difference to the neighbourhood,” he says, quickly adding, “and I get to play outside.”
Angela Ierullo is a lifelong Willow Street resident and community activist who started the group in the summer of 1996. She says the goup has evolved into something larger than she anticipated. She first asked a few youths to help distribute flyers for the local Neighbourhood Alert Committee, of which she is a member.
“It’s a miracle,” says Ierullo. “Having this group makes a difference to our community and in the lives of the kids who participate.”
Ierullo says showing pride outside proves the community cares. Like other urban areas, Willow Street has had to deal with crime and heavy traffic.
“We were fed up with the drugs and prostitution,” she says. “Beautification shows we’re taking back our streets.”
Ierullo says the neighbourhood has many absentee landlords who don’t care what their properties look like.
The Angels get permission from property owners to dig up front lawns and plant flowers on lots that, in some cases, haven’t been tended to in 10 or 12 years.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson recently took a walking tour of the neighbourhood with local politicians and community members to see the Angels’ work. He says they are positive role models for communities across the province. Last week the city presented the Angels with a community pride award.
It is the second time the city has recognized the children, who also received an environmental achievement award last spring.
Ierullo says the Angels are teaching others to care as well.
She says a family on the street used to throw their garbage onto their front lawn.
The Angels quietly put a garbage can on the residents’ property and there hasn’t been a problem since.
Ierullo says the Angels ease cultural and language barriers. In the past year, five community days were held, including a barbecue that attracted over 100 local residents.
“It’s the kids who have been giving the message to their parents about taking pride in the neighbourhood and bringing people together,” she says.
Somerset Coun. Elisabeth Arnold agrees.
“The Angels give a sense of building trust in a community,” says Arnold.
Dr. John Dorner, principal of St. Anthony’s Catholic School, says the group helps residents begin to reclaim their community.
“The streets are changing, they’re cleaner and there’s spirit,” he says, gesturing to a ghost hanging over a garage. “Seeing children hard at work, after all, is very powerful.”
As three of the Angels skip down the street laughing and pointing to decorations they made, you can feel that power.