Violence Inspires Harwood Improvement Project

Seeing a 16-year-old boy suffering from gunshot wounds on a street near her neighborhood last November brought back painful memories for Tamm E Hunt.

More than a decade ago Hunt’s son, Michael Aaron Hunt, was gunned down in West Baltimore.

"When I saw the young boy (whose name I never learned) lying on the cold ground and taking what may have been his last breath, I felt impelled to do something," Hunt wrote in an email. "Thoughts of my own child dying on the ground of a city I believe can do more I had an epiphany, and that was beautification. A small voice said 'beautification' was the answer to some of the problem."

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So Hunt, along with businesses, neighbors and volunteers, has organized Project Green Pockets 2013, which will transform vacant lots in the 2800, 2700 and 2600 blocks of Greenmount Avenue into "resident inclusive and sustainable safe places and green spaces." The community will gather to clean the spaces between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., on April 20.   

Hunt, a well-known Jazz vocalist, said she has been involved with several similar projects such as creating a vegetable garden on Laurens Street in 1978, planting "Peace Poles" along a block of 133rd street in New York City’s Harlem neighborhood in 1998 and the Gardens of Hope project in the Upton Community.

She said she decided to do something involving the vacant space after seeing another resident clean out the lot at Whitridge and Greenmount avenues for a Halloween party.

Hunt is hopeful that the new project’s impact will go beyond just sprucing the up the community.

"I am hoping that by providing the green space for community access, there will be a greater sense of toleration and positive interaction among the residents of Harwood and some sense of community pride," she wrote. 

Residents who are interested in volunteering may reach Hunt via email: tammehuntagency@aol.com.