Trail Garden: Part of the Gap Trail

Julie Fleckenstein is a youth program assistant in the city of McKeesport and has lived there all her life, except for the 9 years where she lived outside of Philadelphia. Because the GAP trail is a big tourist attraction for McKeesport, she is focusing on a vacant lot right alongside the popular biking and hiking path. She is hoping that it will be a great place for people to take a relaxing rest from the trails. The site will include…

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ReClaim McKeesport Ambassadors ’15

ReClaim McKeesport was a year-long education program that assists community members in implementing change on vacant land. In McKeesport alone, there are over 2500 vacant lots. Program participants serve in the role of Ambassador to implement a green project on a vacant property of their choosing. Throughout 2014 - 2015, the cohort of community Ambassadors attended educational sessions and workshops, learning about the ways that vacant lots impact the community and thinking about ways to transform these vacant properties in…

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