How can I make community cleanup more of a thing? (Cleveland: bank owned, house)

[Clevelander216]

I have always had a dream of helping clean up Cleveland. I know that there are CDCs out there that organize community cleanups every now and then and I realize that the city has a department to take care of overgrown, vacant properties, graffiti removal, etc., but obviously these efforts just are not enough. I would love to make something like this my job; just drive around and cleanup the many illegal dump sites, maintain these overgrown lots, sweep up broken glass, paint over graffiti, etc. but how in the world could I keep something like this sustainable without money?

I have tried contacting numerous city departments, CDC's, and even councilman about this sort of thing and of course I never hear back! Is this sort of thing even feasible? I know there is alot of money to be made in the "property preservation" field, but those people only focus on bank owned homes considering they are contracted by the banks. How can I make "neighborhood preservation" a thing? you would figure the city would be jumping for joy to pay individuals like myself who actually want to patrol the streets and make a difference. After all, a cleaner city is a safer city, in my opinion of course.....

would love to hear ya'lls thoughts on this and maybe one of you have connections you can put me in touch with, either a city official or a local neighborhood block group who may be willing to work with me. There is TONS of work around the city that needs done, but volunteering is definitely not sustainable, hence why these neighborhood cleanup events are few and far between....

[j_ws]

The Litterbugz - Litter Cleanup & Prevention In Your Community

Are you connected with neighborhood groups on Facebook? I can think of six or so cleanups that occurred within two miles of my house within the past four months which were heavily reliant on building awareness via social media.