Brownsville beautification gets hand from AmeriCorps team
Nine National Civilian Community Corps members who spent 10 days in Brownsville added muscle to the depressed Fayette County town's efforts to "redd up."
Brownsville Area Redevelopment Corp. and the Appalachian Coal Country Team brought the NCCC, an AmeriCorps program, to the borough in early April.
The crew stayed in a BARC-owned duplex. Each day, crew members headed to different work sites, armed with tools and cleaning and painting supplies.
"ACCT places teams in Appalachian communities where coal was a big part of the economy," said Megan Sheesley, a VISTA worker with BARC.
"Our cost is materials. The benefit it can make is kind of a spring cleaning in the community, not just our organization," said Dennis J. Cremonese, BARC executive director. "Things are starting to move in the right direction (in Brownsville). This was an opportunity to use their skills and labor to do some of the cleanup to make the town look better, as well as some of our own properties.
"Our goal was to get some things done we hadn't had the manpower to do," he said.
On their first day of work, the team tore down and restacked a retaining wall on a BARC-owned parking lot. They cleared weeds and litter from around the Market Street office and painted the building's hand rails.
"It was quite impressive to see them work," Sheesley said.
BARC owns 10 properties and three vacant lots, Cremonese said. The team performed work primarily on those and properties owned by the Fayette County Redevelopment Authority.
One day the team tackled the exteriors of the Taylor Building on Bank Street and the Rose Mansion property on Market Street.
Built in 1873 as the Monongahela National Bank, the spacious home on Brownsville's main street was owned by the Rose family for about 90 years. The family donated the property to BARC several years ago.
The building is structurally sound but needs interior work, Cremonese said. The goal is to convert the mansion into a bed and breakfast, he said.
For NCCC team members, one incentive to participate in the program is a $5,500 education award for which they become eligible upon completing 10 months of service.
Emily Goblirsch, 24, of Rochester, Minn., trained to become certified in wildfire training.
"That was something I never thought I could do," she said, as she cleaned windows at the Taylor Building.
"I'm not quite sure what I want to be when I grow up. We are all in the same boat in AmeriCorps," said Goblirsch, who has a liberal arts degree. "This is a cool opportunity. ... We're getting hands-on work experience."
"This is a lot better opportunity than just taking any job," said Ben Tripoli, 19, of Atlanta, Ga.
Taking a year off from college to earn money, he is enjoying the travel and training aspects of the program.
Cassandra Lewis, 23, of Niagara Falls, N.Y., grew up with a family of volunteers.
"I'm taking a break from school and home to travel. So far, every town we've been to, people have been super-appreciative," she said.
On the other side of town, behind rusty, wrought iron gates, Ally Ramirez, 19, of Portland, Ore.; Tracy Tran, 22, of San Francisco, Calif.; and Cody Hanke, 22, of Madison, Wis., raked leaves, removed rocks and leveled out the ground next to the Rose Mansion.
"Seeing the end result is great, knowing you are beautifying a community. I mowed the lawn for the first time," Ramirez said.
Tran, who has a degree in sociology, had considered joining the Peace Corps. The NCCC won out because it was team-based and would afford her more travel.
"There is a lot of manual labor. I find instant gratification in this," she said. "I feel like I'm seeing a lot of 'real' America. I recently moved to Los Angeles, so there is a little culture shock. I really like the small town (pace)."
Hanke worked for several years after high school, including a stint in the Jobs Corps, a U.S. Department of Labor career training program.
"I like working outdoors. It fits me pretty good. One good reason I came was so I can go back to school. My family is supportive of me being out here, helping people in the community," he said. "I could be stuck in a dead-end job. This is helping me figure out what I want to do next."
