Chaz Amos, CEO of I Love West Dayton, a nonprofit that seeks to beautify neighborhoods, said the effort to clean up the site of the future Gem City marketplace was more than just an opportunity to beautify the city.
Organizing a cleanup and getting people involved who aren’t from the neighborhood also gives people a chance to talk to each other when they wouldn’t have ever met before, Amos said.
“Those opportunities to open up for dialogue and have conversations about what they see, you know, that’s how a community gets connected, when they talk to each other,” Amos said.
The city of Dayton is expected to pick up the bags of trash collected from the area early next week, Amos said.
Gem City Market is a community-owned market located on Salem Avenue. Discussions about the market began in 2015.
Billi Ewing said her grandmother and cousins live nearby, and said it mattered to her that people in the area had fresh food.
“I want this for everybody,” Ewing said.
The store would increase access to fresh food in the neighborhood, and dramatically reduce the amount of time residents there must travel to get groceries.
“Access to fresh fruits and vegetables should be a human right,” said Amaha Sellassie, president of the Gem City Market board. “We should have the choice of how we want and not just to be dictated by corner stores, Dollar Generals, but you know, what we can eat, like our selection choices.”
Sellassie said the co-op is also hoping that the market can strengthen their community by making it into a place where people want to be.
“Everybody’s excited and you can see the hope and the atmosphere in the air,” Sellassie said.
I Love West Dayton picked up over 238,000 lbs. of bulk and garbage last year, the year they were founded, Amos said. He said Gem City Market reached out to him as a community partner to get people involved.
“I’m glad- I’m honored to be able to help in that capacity,” Amos said. “It’s kind of a win-win because you’re getting people ready for their grand opening.”
Cornelius Frolik contributed to this story.
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