During a crisp morning, the sun shone bright on Legacy Garden, a park at West North Avenue and North 15th Street. About 10 volunteers gathered there on March 12 to clean up and beautify the neighborhood.
Founded in the spring of 2024, the North Avenue Community Ambassadors host bi-weekly neighborhood cleanups throughout the Lindsay Heights neighborhood.
Lindsay Heights, a historic neighborhood in the 53206 ZIP code on the North Side, was once a stop on the Underground Railroad.
Other places of note located in the neighborhood include Alice’s Garden, Fondy Farmers Market and the nonprofit Walnut Way Conservation Corp.
Residents are encouraged to join in and help clean up at different locations in Lindsay Heights, including the Legacy Garden. In return for their time and commitment to beautifying the neighborhood, they receive a T-shirt and $20 gift card as a thank you from North Avenue Community Ambassadors.
While the cleanups are important in helping keep the neighborhood tidy, Community Ambassadors still need help from the city to do more, according to their organizers. One of their hopes is two trash cans for the park.
“Change comes about when you’re a part of it,” said Gregory Williams, one of the sponsors of North Avenue Community Ambassadors.
Jonathan Aguilar is a visual journalist at Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service who is supported through a partnership between CatchLight Local and Report for America.
