EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill — Jeffrey Dixon grew up playing with his cousins along State Street.
"East St. Louis the city is connected with my family. This is where my people are," Dixon said.
As the head of the grassroots non-profit Empire 13, he's leading efforts to care for the community that raised him.
"Beat up sidewalks, trash everywhere, overgrown brush, rundown lawns, burned down homes. There's no reason why East St. Louis should look the way it does when Belleville is one mile up the road and is perfectly taken care of within the same county," Dixon said.
Less than a mile from State Street, on West Main Street in Belleville, you'll start to see trash cans line the roads.
Dixon is raising money to bring those same resources to East St. Louis.
"Belleville has trash cans all up and down their main street. If State Street had the same trash cans then the same trash build-up that we see on State Street, that trash would end up going into the trash cans," Dixon said.
Dixon started a Clean Street Initiative to raise $3500 to buy trash cans for East St. Louis.
"We are raising funds to get 20 city-style trash cans along with 10 three-in-one recyclable trash cans so we can align them up along State Street and Empire 13 will maintain the trash pick up for those trash cans until the state takes action," Dixon said.
This is part of their Boots to the Streets campaign, which also involves street cleanups and petitioning for government leaders to hire residents to keep The City clean.
He believes a small change, like adding trash cans, will make a huge difference.
"As long as one piece of trash goes into those trash cans then that's a piece of trash that's not on the street," Dixon said.
Dixon's raised nearly $800.
He hopes to reach their goal by Jan. 11.
For more information on how to donate visit the Clean Streets Initiative GoFundMe page.