Being good neighbors
Sheraden residents show their city and each other some love
Ryan Wysocki knows a lot about his neighbors living in Sheraden. He knows the woman who has lived in a house two doors down from him for more than 50 years. He knows the owner of founder William Sheraden’s house with the well-known archway created from two sycamores growing together.
But sitting on his porch in spring 2019, he couldn’t get over an abandoned house that was right in his line of sight. That was when his wife, Aimee, asked, “Why don’t you do something about it?”
So he began weed wacking the lot and cleaning up downed tree limbs, ivy and overgrown grapevines, and found that it looked much better. Soon some older neighbors contacted Ryan, Aimee and their son, Eli, about helping to clean up their yard in exchange for gas and tools to do the job. So they cleared that back lot.
A post to the Sheraden Community
Awareness Blog about the Wysockis’ generosity garnered positive feedback, and more requests began to trickle in about overgrown street corners or other abandoned lots. Inspired, Ryan created Sheraden Neighbors, a Facebook group of locals giving back to the community through cleanups
and lot maintenance in an effort to renew the neighborhood.
In addition to weeding and lawn maintenance, Sheraden Neighbors often gets together to pick up garbage along sidewalks. According to Ryan, the informal group has about 50 or 60 participants actively helping them in their neighborhood efforts.
“We’re not looking to make careers out of this,” Ryan said. “It’s neighbors helping neighbors. That’s the way you’re going to get people back to being good to one another, being good neighbors and
good citizens and bringing peace in this world.”
The Wysockis put a garbage can at a busy corner near the West Busway where a lot of trash would collect, and they placed a sign that told passersby to call them if it was full, and they would empty it. Aimee later successfully petitioned the city to install a garbage can on the site.
Before long, other neighbors asked if they could put out garbage cans, too. Ryan also boarded up unsafe, abandoned houses where children were playing.
In 2019, Sheraden Neighbors competed in the third annual Garbage Olympics, organized by the city’s Clean Pittsburgh Commission. Neighborhood teams compete to collect the most trash and also receive recognition for the most volunteers, the dirtiest volunteer, most spirit and strangest item found. Sheraden Neighbors won that last award for finding a stuffed animal horse.
Unfortunately, as momentum grew for Sheraden Neighbors, the pandemic hit. The Wysocki family still went out to collect trash, but larger events were put on hold. Aimee, however, had an idea.
Sheraden Neighbors partnered with nearby youth development organization HOPE for Tomorrow to paint garbage cans to place throughout the neighborhood. Cans were donated by The Home Depot, and Sheraden Neighbors and Sheraden Community Council donated paint supplies.
The cans, painted with vibrant colors and characters, were posted on Facebook to be adopted by community members. All 10 were adopted, and Ryan said litter tends to be reduced in each location where a can is placed. The group also hosted “Trash Blitzes” where folks split up and took different streets to keep things clean.
In the late spring, the Wysockis were following the news when they heard about the damage done to Downtown businesses after equal rights protests following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis turned destructive. Taking their mobile trash cart and supplies, Sheraden Neighbors cleaned up glass from broken storefront windows in and around Market Square, an act that received media attention.
Ryan remembered finding a cellphone store on the corner of Graeme Street with a pile of glass shattered from the store’s window and the owner outside. The Wysockis offered to clean it up, and the owner said he couldn’t pay them. The Wysockis said they didn’t want money. They just wanted to do something.
“We wanted to help our neighbors in Market Square,” Ryan said. “That was something we did as a cleanup, as community service to our city, just giving back to a city that we love and we live in and we’re a part of.”
For those interested in volunteering, the Wysockis continue to update the Sheraden Neighbors Facebook page. Sometimes they post ahead of time to promote a larger event such as the Trash Olympics, but other times, it’s a call for helpers that afternoon to pick up trash or help with a service project with the Kiwanis Club of Sheraden. Although the group settled down for winter, the family still works together to pick up trash on weekends and shovel snowy driveways.
Ryan said they’ve learned from the Kiwanis Club and other local organizations about the importance of contributing to groups where you’ve already put down roots. “This not only affects the people around us, but it makes my day go differently when things are cleaner, nicer. I think that’s what makes us stand out. We are invested in the community we serve.”
Ginny Hamer-Kropf, president of the Sheraden Community Council, said the group has been a “big positive,” especially for getting children involved in cleanup efforts. She explained Sheraden Neighbors works closely with the council and partners on ideas to better the community.
“I speak with Aimee and Ryan constantly,” she said. “Even if we’re driving around, I’ll say, ‘Hey, let’s get this house tackled if there’s garbage or weeds in the summer. We’ll pick a day. Let’s take a couple hours, get out there and do it.’ ”
Ryan emphasized the uplift of forging relationships with folks living around you and giving back to one another. One family watches his dogs and plays with them, and he recently helped them with a plumbing issue, for instance. That’s the dynamic on which Sheraden Neighbors is built.
“Some of our inspiration was Mister Rogers and the local Pittsburgh connection,” Ryan said. “He would talk about, ‘Won’t you be my neighbor?’ As corny as it had sounded, when you watched his show, you would see that he knew the mailman. He knew this person. He knew that person. And that made a difference. We find that, in this neighborhood, that’s what it is.”