Et cetera : NCCC Helping to Build Community Plaza

Cedar 4 on their work site.

Patrick gets up on the ladder to pull down boards for demolition.

By: Sam Janda

Since March 12, the AmeriCorps NCCC team of Cedar 4 has been working with the Mary McLeod Bethune Intervention and Enrichment Center (MBIE), in Mansfield, Ohio. The team of nine has already demolished over 2,900 square feet of the inside of the future Carter Neighborhood Plaza Center. They have bagged over 600 pounds of clothing to donate; have taken inventory and catalogued over 400 items including furniture, bedding, and toys; have boxed nine boxes of kitchenware; and over 1,000 books.

The Carter Neighborhood Plaza Center, when completed, will be a multi-purpose facility and commercial kitchen. It will be an asset to the community by promoting job and skill development through education, banking, and providing a commercial kitchen for small businesses. Cedar 4 has helped in the renovation by clearing out the building and doing the demolition work.

Additionally, the team has begun helping in the rehabilitation of a home owned by MBIE, which will provide a secure home for a low-income family. They are continuing with their skills of demolition in this house, as well as learning new tasks such as hanging dry-wall, mudding, and electrical handiwork.

Cedar 4 will be in Mansfield until April 25. They are also getting involved in the community through various other volunteer projects. Team members have been serving hours at the Richland County Humane Society, the Little Buckeye Children’s Museum, as well as the Salvation Army.

MBIE is a non-profit organization founded in 1995 by Ms. Alverta Williams, that has a mission to improve the quality of life for elderly, socially disadvantaged and low-income families. They strive to rid the neighborhoods in Mansfield of unsafe, dilapidated and vacant properties through urban development projects.