Scouts & Students ‘Rock’ Wick City Community

More than 70 volunteers of all ages and from many different organizations stepped in to lend a hand improving home exteriors for multiple residents in the Wick City neighborhood of Kittanning Borough during the Rock the Block neighborhood beautification project on Saturday, July 16.

Eight different teams of volunteers spread out throughout a section of Wick City to clean, power wash and paint. Teams worked on porch and roof repairs as well as curb improvements that included mowing, weeding, planting flower beds and mulching.

The event – hosted by Armstrong Habitat for Humanity – was sponsored by eight other businesses, organizations and elected officials as well.

A few weeks ago, Rose Reitler’s front porch along Fair Street received a facelift with new freshly painted posts and a roof – before volunteers switched gears and began planting day lilies and hosta plants along the side of her house.

“I knew people did stuff like this, but to see it done for yourself makes a big difference,” Reitler said.

A few blocks away, Armstrong High LEO Club President Katie Pyle applied a fresh coat of paint to another home while two troops of Girl Scouts from Freeport planted flowers and shrubs next door.

“We (LEO Club members) help the community as much as we can,” Pyle said. “It’s what we do.”

Organizers thanked not only volunteers and businesses but two Kittanning churches for volunteering their spaces.

The First Church of the Nazarene at Wilson Avenue and Montieth Street for allowing participants to use their lot to park, register and pick up supplies needed for each project while Living Water Church formed a work crew to work on various project sites while others kept volunteers well-hydrated throughout the day with chilled lemonade.

Autumn Patterson’s friends and family formed a team to improve the outside of a home along Orr Avenue Saturday. It was also Patterson’s birthday celebration.

The day was an overall success, Michael McElhaney, executive director of Armstrong Habitat for Humanity, said.

“There are a lot of agencies involved and we’re happy to be a part of it,” McElhaney concluded.

Rock the Block kicked off a three-year Neighborhood Revitalization Project in Wick City that involves the collaboration of more than 20 agencies, organizations and businesses to provide community development and economic stability to the community of Wick City.

Throughout this project, Armstrong Habitat for Humanity will refurbish, repair, and convert multiple blighted, abandoned properties into safe owner-occupied homes. Project goals include seeking out funding sources to repair area streets and alleys, creating a playground, and determining future use options for the vacant former Kittanning High School building.