Community volunteers, church groups and folks from a variety of other organizations turned out Saturday for a spring cleaning of sorts with the Hard Bargain Association.

Even though the day started with a little drizzle, skies cleared in time for the Spring Festival Community Cleanup Day to yield a number of projects being tackled from morning to late afternoon.

It wasn’t all work, however. Volunteers enjoyed music being spun by a DJ and plenty of food options. Plus, residents of the historic Hard Bargain neighborhood could visit with representatives from Mercy Community Healthcare and Meharry Medical College of Dentistry to discuss health and wellbeing.

According to Derrick Solomon, executive director of HBA, there were 82 volunteers and a total of 250 participants for the event. Churches represented were Empowerment Community Church (Senior Pastor Walter Simmons), Church of the City (Page Pitts), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Sarah Critlow), Christ Community Church, Historic Presbyterian Church (Pastor Shaw) and Gateway Church (Minister Javi and Blake), as well as 4-H Club of Franklin and the Food Group.

The Hard Bargain Association, which obtained its nonprofit status in 2006, works together with the residents of the historic neighborhood to restore and rebuild it into what their vision is for the neighborhood and its future. 

HBA does this by having regular community meetings, design workshops, and having residents of the neighborhood on its board of directors and advisory board. Volunteers help in various ways including doing rehab projects on homes (repairs, painting, roofing, etc.) landscaping, gardening, cleanup, fundraising events and other volunteer projects.

Click here to learn more about the Hard Bargain Association.