Hundreds rally to clean up a neighborhood in need

American anthropologist Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

The quote emphasizes that significant change doesn't require mass movements, but instead, a relatively small number of individuals who are passionate, committed, and ready to act can be the catalysts for profound transformations. That idea was on full display September 11–13, as hundreds of volunteers came out and worked together to remove trash, junk vehicles, and hazardous structures.

But more than that, people came out to make a change and transform the Williwaw neighborhood into a safer, healthier, and more vibrant community within the Matanuska-Susitna Borough (MSB).

While community may have been the idea, everyone had the same word to describe the efforts-amazing.

The Williwaw Clean-up Project was the brainchild of Jason Ortiz, MSB Planning and Land Use Deputy Director, but was powered by strong community partnerships, including the Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS), staff members and their families from the Mat-Su Borough, Wasilla Police Department, drug counselors, Alaska Waste, and Families for the Improvement of Safety and Health (FISH), and others who showed up to lend a hand.

“This is amazing. This is super-cool,” Ortiz said of the clean-up and all of the different groups of people who came out to help, even when it rained. “We had 60 on the first day, and about 30 came out the next day, despite the rain and weather. People showed up and it’s just everything, to see how much people care.”

“It’s amazing. It just proves what a great place we live in and how much people care about each other, want to help, but so many times don’t know exactly what or how to do it,” said MSB Mayor Edna DeVries, who loved that the property owners worked alongside the Borough to make the project happen.

Alaska State Representative George Rauscher, who represents District 29, was on hand to help out, echoing the sentiments of others in calling the work everyone was doing as amazing.

“Things have been going great. This is an amazing project,” said Rauscher, who thinks the project may have been among the first in the state. “For the Mat-Su Borough, this is a very unique opportunity. For people to come and be a part of making a community feel like it’s important.”

Rauscher said that when he learned of the project, he was reminded of his own small community where he grew up and residents often ran into the same problems, collecting items they thought would be used again, but time and weather, and sometimes funds made it hard to take care of the property. “This is a way for people to reclaim all that, make it pretty…I’m just amazed that the Borough has decided to step in and help out like this.”

He commended the Ortiz, Mat-Su Borough Manager Mike Brown, and the MSB employees who also took time to help out during the clean-up. One such employee, Matt McMines, even brought his young son Orson to help out in the clean-up efforts.

“This isn’t my area, but this is important. This is a massive crime spot, and a hotspot for chronic infractions with code enforcement,” he said, adding that it’s hard to enforce code citations, but a project like this-- using MSB resources and volunteers to deal with some of the junk, brush, and overflow—and working with the community is a good idea.

“As a project, to see how it would work to extend that to this one area. It didn’t matter what they needed, we’re here to help.”

He said knocking on doors and get the neighborhood on board with the idea was a huge undertaking, and even if people didn’t sign up, no one was turned away if they changed their minds and asked for help. “There have been so many people that have been very helpful, and a lot of people are happy to see us and have been very complimentary.”

McMines said he lost count of how many loads they had removed but said there were at least eight dumpsters that had removed garbage on Thursday and Friday, even in the pouring rain.

Assembly member Dmitri Fonov showed up, volunteering his front loader and sweat equity, said the Borough was blessed to have so many people helping in a “one-of-a-kind project.”

“It’s with a lot of hard work from different organizations, with Jason Ortiz and Mike Brown, and the assembly, and a lot of support from the local community and church, we were able to remove countless containers of garbage. It’s been very successful.”

In addition to the work, Fonov said people have been very kind to each other, supporting their neighbors and coming out to see people working for the right reasons. He has championed helping people in the MSB remove junk cars from their properties and in the three years since he launched the project, reports that approximately 1,000 cars have been removed.

One property that Ortiz was proud to show progress on within the neighborhood had days before been littered with been made had days before been covered in overflow, old engines, and equipment.

“This property, you couldn’t see the house last week. It was massive overflow.” But thanks to the volunteers, the yard was clean, trash and brush removed and the house was visible from the street.

Ortiz said he lost track of how many dumpsters they filled over the three days, but that two full-time employees with Alaska Waste had not stopped making runs. “In the end, it’s not about how much is removed, it’s about what’s improved. The community outlook, the volunteers, all of it to make things better is what matters.”

Ortiz, Brown, Rauscher, and Fonov all said they hope to see this project happen in other areas that might need the same attention.

“I’d like to see this get replicated around the Borough. The success of this will tell if that’ll happen, and I believe it is an absolute success. All communities have something they can relate to, and can benefit from this idea,” said Rauscher.

“My goal is to make this a blueprint,” Ortiz said. “This is phenomenal, so if we can replicate this, it would be awesome. That’s the plan.”