Spruce It Up bolsters downtown wellbeing

In the early morning, a team of 12 or so youth can be found walking through the downtown neighborhoods with gardening tools over their shoulders. They’re the Spruce It Up landscapers, a volunteer team of kids who are making their community more beautiful and connected while learning important life skills.

Program Origins and Purpose

Spruce It Up is hosted through the Village Community and Recreation Center, a nonprofit serving underrepresented and underserved families in Buckeye. Founded by Jeremy McGinty, the organization’s motto is “no one person, it takes a village.”

Launch of Spruce It Up

Spruce It Up was added to VCRC’s lineup of programs and services in June after it received a $25,000 grant from the Buckeye Police Department. The goal is threefold: Support local youth, create community connection, and beautify the downtown neighborhoods through landscaping. One or two mornings each week, the Spruce It Up team meets at VCRC’s Sprouted Seeds Community Garden before venturing into the neighborhoods to provide landscaping services for neighbors in need. The beneficiaries of the program are asked to give a $25-35 donation to the program in return for the work.

Youth Participation and Incentives

The youth currently involved range in age from 10 to 15. Since its June inception, 22 kids have participated in the program. They are provided with incentives of $10, with the youth voted “best worker” by their peers receiving a $15 incentive. Those who receive the best grades on their report cards are given $18 to $22. They learn the value of money, budgeting, and saving. The program staff is looking into creating a savings plan to help further this learning, McGinty said.

Accountability and Learning from Mistakes

Likewise, if someone doesn’t show up or receives an academic discipline, their incentive amount may be reduced. This is a real-life lesson, says McGinty, and teaches them how to handle mistakes in a safe environment where they can learn and grow with the support of caring adults. The real world is not so kind, so it’s an opportunity for them to build knowledge now.

But the biggest impact of the program, said McGinty, is the way it creates camaraderie and friendship between youth from different neighborhoods.

“The biggest takeaway that I see is that these kids get to interact with each other. Even though they’re all from the downtown area … they never associated with each other,” he said. “Before the social media, the news, before they get that weird perception of what’s going on, they get to intermingle with one another.”

Gardening and Leadership Skills

As a Maricopa County master gardener, McGinty is also able to instill life skills in gardening and landscaping that can benefit the youth both personally and professionally. They are also preparing to implement a leadership program where each kid gets the chance to lead the Spruce It Up team for a day.

“That’s what we want to start doing to build confidence is put them out there,” McGinty said. “I think every kid in the universe has great potential, it just depends on what path they go.”

Positive Influence on Families

Cornelia Hatcher is the mother and grandmother of five children who participated in the program over the summer. She saw numerous changes in her kids as a result of participating in the program, most notably their motivation in addition to a sense of responsibility and accountability.

“Everybody plays a part of the team and, when you don’t show up or when you’re late, that kind of weight falls on everybody else because now they have to pick up what you just left,” Hatcher said. “If you’re a part of the team, you have to be committed to your part.”

Supporting Older Residents

Most often those who benefit from Spruce It Up’s services are older residents, many of whom rely on the youth team for their lawn care. Hatcher recalled one Army veteran in his 90s who benefited from Spruce It Up’s assistance over the summer. Now, when her boys see him walking home from the store carrying grocery bags, they stop to lend a helping hand.

“The community depends on [Spruce It Up]. The kids come and help them with the yard work,” Hatcher said. “A lot of the people who live in the community have been here for many, many years. Some of them, they’ve got grandkids and kids but sometimes those people don’t have anybody.”

Future Plans for a Community Centre

Looking to the future, McGinty said VCRC seeks to build its own community center, providing a safe place for downtown kids to gather. The closest place right now is the recreation center across from Buckeye Union High School, but it’s a long walk for some kids depending on which neighborhood they live in — making the location often inaccessible during the summer heat. Sometimes you’ll find youth, especially high schoolers, gathering in the river bottom, on the street corners or in basketball courts. The community center would provide another option for them to gather somewhere with safe supervision, cool temperatures and life-skills education including sewing, house cleaning and hygiene.

“We want to give them a safe and guided supervision place to hang out,” said McGinty. “And then, while they’re there, we’re going to be throwing in life skills.”

Challenges in Funding the Centre

It’s uncertain when the community center will be fully funded. The goal post keeps moving, McGinty said. Budgeting began pre-COVID, but skyrocketed after the pandemic to $250,000. Today, it’s about $330,000. While building the center is still in the plan, the nonprofit also invests time and resources into current programming like Spruce It Up or the summer tutoring — in which Hatcher’s children also participated.

“It kept them from being out in the streets trying to find something to do,” said Hatcher. “So for them to have had a facility that they could go to and read books, do homework or get some tutoring — it was just a great program for my kids.”

“I didn’t pay much attention until my friends started getting into trouble and getting into drugs,” he said. “I would see my friends in sixth, seventh grade experiment with drugs, get caught and get put into jail.”

He also remembers noticing the social discrepancies: Kids from more affluent areas of Buckeye were more likely to be sentenced to rehabilitation or community service while his peers were sent to jail. 

“Over half, if not about 65% of the kids I grew up with are dead or in jail right now,” he said. “If they aren’t strung out walking up the 85 right now, they are dead or in jail. That is the harsh reality, but that is the reality.”

Breaking the Cycle of Drug Abuse

Today, history repeats itself in an ongoing cycle. It’s not cocaine anymore, but methamphetamine and fentanyl, McGinty said. 

“I saw the exact same thing happening to those kids,” he said. “I got with my aunt, mom and sister, a couple of other people in the neighborhood and said, ‘We’ve got to do something bout this.’”

McGinty and his team are determined to break that cycle through programs like Spruce It Up. It’s working, Hatcher said, and, as a result, the enter community grows together.

“I expressed to Mr. McGinty, whatever it is you’re doing, it’s cream, you know that,” Hatcher said. “Keep doing that.”

How to Get Involved

Those interested in becoming involved with VCRC can visit the website HERE. 

The nonprofit is hosting a fall season planting day at the Sprouted Seeds Community Garden on Oct. 12 from 8-10 a.m.. Kids are invited to plant seeds and food will be provided. The garden is located at 301 S. 5th St.