On a picture-perfect Saturday in June, residents of the 6300 block of South Fairfield Avenue worked with volunteers from Neighborhood Housing Services, the United Postal Service and State Farm Insurance to plant flowers, roll sod and paint porches, window frames and trim.

Three months later, the June landscaping has held up well, and plans are underway to give the block even more of a facelift. Residents of eight houses are working with the city's Targeted Blocks Facade program to obtain grants and loans to repair or replace their roofs, gutters, windows and porches.

PHOTO: MAUREEN KELLEHER

Greater Southwest Community Development Corporation organizer Tina Harris chats with Fairfield block resident Georgia Harris.

"We wanted to work on the foundation of what it meant to tap into resources," she said, adding that the less visible work of relationship-building is what will leave lasting benefits.

Nobody thought that creating those relationships would be easy. English- and Spanish-speaking neighbors struggle with basic communication, let alone building the trust required to unite a block. Crime and drug dealing have left residents afraid to reach out to each other.

The recent foreclosure crisis has hit the neighborhood, Chicago Lawn, with singular force. In June, five single-family homes on the block were vacant, and another eight to 10 were renter-occupied.

PHOTO: MAUREEN KELLEHER

Jamal Brunson (left) and Alex Johnson became friends while painting the window trim on this house together. It was the first time they had spoken in two years of living on the same block.

About a year ago, McReynolds, Nancy Patterson and a few other neighbors asked Mike Reardon, director of theChicago Lawn Neighborhood Housing Services office, for help. He and Donna Stites, NCP organizer for the Greater Southwest Development Corporation, pulled together a web of resources, including James, designed to build community and improve the block.

James, who is bilingual, is building relationships that bridge the language barrier. The block now hosts regular meetings to coordinate resources like the Targeted Blocks program. James, whose position will close out at the end of October, is doing her best to work herself out of a job.

"As I get ready to wind up, my job has been to make sure these connections are maintained," she said.

She's planning a final meeting to make sure neighbors know who on the block they can ask about community policing, trash pickup, home loans and other resources. "Everybody takes one slice of the pie," James said.

Back in June, everyone took one turn with a shovel. "Everybody's coming out and putting their hands in the dirt," noted McReynolds. "That gives them ownership."

"It's the first time we've ever had something like this," said Fairfield resident Georgia Harris. She credits James with energizing neighbors. "She is always calling us and reminding us about the meetings. It's such a blessing to have somebody like that. She's been to the door knocking. I just love this lady."

PHOTO: MAUREEN KELLEHER

James encouraged Harris to greet a neighbor walking by. "Mrs. Velasquez would love it if you said hi. She speaks English," James told her.

The June event also gave the block visibility with Alderman Toni Foulkes (15th), who stopped by in the afternoon. Patterson and other dedicated volunteers discussed block improvements they wanted to see: a stop sign for the south end of the block and a speed bump.

"Everything you're asking for, it's going to be in the 2009 [menu of services]," Foulkes assured them.

Even the block's young people got involved and made new friends. Jamal Brunson and Alex Johnson met for the first time and made friends while painting the trim on the front window of another neighbor's house.

Although Alex has lived on the block for two years and Jamal for nine, the June event was their first chance to talk. "We see each other," said Alex.

"But we never speak to each other," said Jamal, finishing Alex's thought. Had they not worked together on painting the house, he added, "We wouldn't know each other like we do now."

The boys attend different schools – Jamal just started 8th grade at Fairfield Elementary one block north; Alex started 7th grade at Marquette Elementary a few blocks southwest.

Alex said Jamal has helped him meet other neighbors, too. "He was showing me around the block --people I didn't know."

"When he first moved here, I thought about introducing myself, but I was kind of shy," said Jamal.

"It's a chance for us personally to know all the people on the block. Everybody is not just working at their own house – they're working on each other's houses, “said Alex. “As a block, it's like we're a big family. We're not all related, but we all live on the block, so we've got to help each other."