Neighborhood fights crime with flowers

ST. PETERSBURG - On a Saturday morning in St. Petersburg, volunteers and residents of a run down neighborhood gathered in barren front yards to begin transforming them into gardens filled with life.

Their premise is simple: criminals do not like to hang out in neighborhoods that look nice and are well lit.

The homes are in the Bartlett Park neighborhood, a high-crime area where many houses have bars on the windows, and several yards are peppered with trash.

Residents and volunteers have gathered to fill the yards with Florida-native plants, fruits and vegetables. They want to supply the community with food, reduce neighborhood crime and promote peace.

"I think the city of St. Petersburg needs a project like this," said Jennifer Gulick. "I think people will get behind what we are doing when they see people helping each other out."

Gulick is one of several anthopology students from the University of South Florida working with residents to clean up the lawns, and replace dying grass with drought tolerant landscaping.

They also planted bushes, vegetables and flower seedlings, including okra, watermelon, peas, sunshine mimosas and beach sunflower plants.

See the Paris Gardens in photos.

The seeds of the project came from one woman's dream: Andrea Hildebran is with Green Florida and Bartlett Park Community Garden.

Hildebran is dedicated to keeping the memory of one little girl alive, a child whose life was cut short too soon.  8-year-old Paris Hamilton, who was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in April.

"Having Paris Gardens in Bartlett Park helps us keep her memory alive," Hildebran said. "I also think her death was a point when a lot of people decided to stop violence in Bartlett Park."

Hildebran says that Paris Gardens provide a way for neighbors to get to know each other, and one woman who close to Paris Hamilton agrees.

"I feel good about the community, I see people coming together and doing something nice. And to remember. That is so good," says Shenita Joseph, Paris' aunt and guardian.

Volunteers who don't even live in the neighborhood say they are committed to the work at hand.

They say they are here to help make the neighborhood in a better, safer, and greener place, where little children won't be killed anymore in gang-related crimes.

"We belong to one community, the human community," said USF criminology student Mimi Stelmack. "It doesn't matter whether I am from New York or Florida, we should all care about one another. If you have an opportunity to help someone out, you should."

Michael Manlowe owns Twigs and Leaves, a native plants nursery in St. Petersburg. He donated some materials, and helped plant them.

"Andrea had a dream, and her dream is reality, that's why I joined her," Manlowe said.

"The Paris Memorial Gardens will also help communities to add more vegetation, green spaces for them," said Julien Ehren Konig, an anthopology student at USF. "Because it helps a lot in reducing crime, mental fatigue. We are also creating a sustainable garden for them at their homes with drought tolerant Florida natives."

Konig says one of the goals is to create a sustainable food supply.

"Our goal is to create something that is sustainable for the families and do a memorial for Paris," Konig said. "We are working on making communities better for each other."

A better community that continues to grow through the years so that memories of one little girl don't fade - a tall order, says the woman who started it all.

"When we learned that this shooting had happened, we were very sad and very disheartening," said Hildebran. "We built this community garden to bring people together and create a different atmosphere in the neighborhood. I think it is working, but it's not enough," she said.