ATLANTA — A fight over garbage in a southwest Atlanta neighborhood has turned dangerous for children who live there, according to some community activists.
They told 11Alive the trash and overgrowth is forcing kids to walk on busy streets and they want the city to step in and help.
"The brush, the sidewalks, the trash, the pandemic, it was just getting too much for us," said Grace Hamlin, founder of the community nonprofit, the W-Underdogs.
They work to teach young people in Southwest Atlanta how to care for neglected animals and advocate for themselves. She says the neighborhood where she set up is overrun with trash.
This summer, she showed 11Alive garbage littering the sidewalks and broken-down street signs.
She said that not much has changed.
"At a time when you're not feeling too good about yourself, and you're losing everything, why do our services have to be neglected, also," she said.
She said she's tried to get help from the city time and time again because the garbage on the sidewalk is creating a dangerous situation for the kids in the neighborhood.
"I have kids walking on the highway, main road, to get to the corner store, to eat at the McDonald's and Wendy's on Metropolitan Road," she said. "So, I've been really concerned about the safety of the kids walking on the roads. And I'm worried about how they feel about themselves when they're living among trash."
Councilmember Joyce Sheperd said she's aware of the complaints and was upset when she saw the condition of some of the streets off Langston Drive.
"I had code enforcement go out there and write up everyone on the street, from one end to the other. I had them come and cut the right of way, cut the trash out. I did all of that within the last month," she said.
She said the pandemic is part of the problem with making lasting changes in the area. With the courts closed down homeowners aren't being held accountable.
"If I have to take them to court, it's going to be another three to six months before we see them in court because the courts are closed because of COVID-19. I'm not making excuses. I'm just telling you the reality of the situation," she said.
Councilmember Sheperd thinks the majority of the garbage comes from people who live outside the area and use the neighborhood as a dumping ground.
She said public works was out in that area and cleaned up just Friday but, by Monday, the trash was back.
"I could go pick up trash this morning, and if you went back tomorrow or the day after, you would say, 'When did you do a cleanup?' There's nothing out there," she said.
Grace thinks there needs to be a more permanent solution to keeping their community clean.
"The health of a community is really reflective of what's happening in our country," she said. "And right now we don't feel like anyone cares what’s happening in our communities."
Sheperd said she has several long-term projects in the works, including a twice-weekly cleanup and a new police precinct in the area scheduled to open in October.