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As a resident of the College Park neighborhood in Las Vegas for 54 years, RaeAnn Peterson with NHS of Southern Nevada didn’t stand around and wait for someone else to fix problems in her neighborhood. In the spring of 2010, Peterson identified several elderly individuals whose homes needed some tender loving care. It did not take her long before she had a plan for the Flower Avenue Desert Landscaping Project.
Her idea was to convert the high-maintenance yards to low-cost, low-maintenance desert landscaping. The project involved working with a professional landscaper to design and direct the volunteers on the correct installation of xeriscape terrain. Peterson rallied members of her church, a Boy Scout troop and board members to volunteer 449 manhours to remove the old landscaping, replace it with drought-tolerant plants and spread yards upon yards of rock.
She raised $12,450 to purchase the majority of the material and solicited an additional $4,600 in in-kind donations. The families benefitted from lower water bills, rebates from the Water Authority and lower monthly maintenance expenses. The yards look great and even inspired other neighbors to replace their grass with desert landscaping.
Then Peterson decided to set her sights on a neighborhood-wide clean up effort. In April 2012, she coordinated the College Park beautification event. She was able to use a city contact to get eight dumpsters, one for each block, delivered to the neighborhood. College Park community members spent the weekend cleaning their yards and those of their neighbors. The cleanup also included services such as a mobile document shredding station and a trailer for old electronic equipment to be recycled by the Nevada Blind Center. Of course, there was food and fellowship in the form of a neighborhood barbeque.
Year after year, Peterson has been at the forefront when leading College Park residents to continually beautify their community.
Her idea was to convert the high-maintenance yards to low-cost, low-maintenance desert landscaping. The project involved working with a professional landscaper to design and direct the volunteers on the correct installation of xeriscape terrain. Peterson rallied members of her church, a Boy Scout troop and board members to volunteer 449 manhours to remove the old landscaping, replace it with drought-tolerant plants and spread yards upon yards of rock.
She raised $12,450 to purchase the majority of the material and solicited an additional $4,600 in in-kind donations. The families benefitted from lower water bills, rebates from the Water Authority and lower monthly maintenance expenses. The yards look great and even inspired other neighbors to replace their grass with desert landscaping.
Then Peterson decided to set her sights on a neighborhood-wide clean up effort. In April 2012, she coordinated the College Park beautification event. She was able to use a city contact to get eight dumpsters, one for each block, delivered to the neighborhood. College Park community members spent the weekend cleaning their yards and those of their neighbors. The cleanup also included services such as a mobile document shredding station and a trailer for old electronic equipment to be recycled by the Nevada Blind Center. Of course, there was food and fellowship in the form of a neighborhood barbeque.
Year after year, Peterson has been at the forefront when leading College Park residents to continually beautify their community.
