December 17, 2025
Provided Image/Klean Kensington
Members of the nonprofit Klean Kensington, above, are paid an hourly wage to tend to the neighborhood's community gardens.
Klean Kensington, an organization that pays local teenagers to build and maintain public gardens, plans to transform a North Philly lot into a welcoming, kid-friendly space as part of a pilot program to combat illegal dumping.
The nonprofit said Tuesday that it was awarded a $17,000 grant from Circular Philadelphia's Revive and Thrive program to construct a new garden in the first half of 2026. Over the next two years, the space will be monitored to track its impact on the surrounding community.
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Located on the corner of Shelbourne and Willard streets behind the Esperanza Health Center, the 16-by-60 feet space has become notorious in the neighborhood for accumulating piles of litter.
"I know many kids who live on Willard and neighboring blocks and they walk past this dumping corner constantly," said Jeremy Chen, the executive director of Klean Kensington. "We want to make this a drug-free space that they frequent for a peaceful place to read and enjoy the flowers and butterflies."
"[Participants] will survey their neighbors and serve as ambassadors to make sure that space is cared for and kept well," he said. "The idea is to show how local power is really important when it comes to these dumping corners."
The project is receiving addition support from the William Penn Foundation, Thomas Jefferson University's Park in a Truck program and Circular Philadelphia. Cleaning service Glitter will document the area's litter levels during weekly cleanups, and Trash Academy will host dumping prevention education workshops.
"We're combining cleanup statistics with community knowledge to understand what drives lasting change, not just temporary fixes," project manager Melvin Powell said. "... In Phase 2 of this initiative, we are hoping to engage communities and even local salvage, composters and building material reuse businesses."
Candice Lawton, executive director with Circular Philadelphia, said community interest in the Revive and Thrive program is strong and that the organization is already looking into expanding beyond this pilot lot.
"We know this approach works because it combines what's been effective from each organization's experience on the ground and what peer cities have shown about neighbor-led vacant land activation," she said in a statement.
Chen started the Klean Kensington organization during the COVID-19 pandemic when his neighborhood experienced major delays in trash pickup.
The longtime Kensington resident hosted a community cleanup, which he said continued to grow as the months and years went by.
Caretakers, who are paid around $18 per hour, have said they hope their work will bring greater awareness about the positive impacts that urban gardens have on their communities.
"We work together ... through teamwork and communication and pushing each other to grow and just work," said Zireen Jones, 19, a participant in Klean Kensington. "[Community gardens] are very open to people. People could get to know each other more and build new connections."
Around 40 local teenagers have participated in the program planting seeds and caring for the gardens. Chen has also launched after-school homework sessions.
"Our efforts emphasize the power of young people," he said. "A lot of times people look at young people in the community and they see them always getting in trouble. It's really inspirational to see young people taking initiative."
