MESA, AZ — What a difference only a few weeks can make.
"We've won a huge battle. A huge battle,” added Jennifer Jackson.
For people who live on East Alpine Avenue in Mesa, the amount of happiness Jackson feels today is almost as big as the battle was.
Jackson talked with ABC15 last month in front of what she called an eyesore.
"Something is not okay here. This is not okay here. This is unhealthy and unsafe. There are elderly on this street. There are children on this street,” stated Jackson in December.
Weeks later, broken TVs, junk-filled shopping carts, over-flowing garbage cans, and non-working cars are gone.
"This is better than what it was. I am sad it has spilled over into the empty lot which we got cleaned two years ago, but it's still way better than what it was,” added Jackson.
Mesa police spent two days watching bulldozers lift junk into dumpsters clearing the clutter.
"It was very surreal for about two days. I did not believe it was happening,” added Jackson. "I mean I expected maybe a little more police attention. But, not to the caliber of what has happened in any way, shape or form."
Police confirm more than a dozen visits to the property over the years with officers responding to things like theft and city code violations. We're told people had even been living in cars and tents in the front yard.
One other reason the neighbors on East Alpine Avenue wanted something done about the eyesore was to figure out whether the woman who actually lived in the house was okay. ABC15 has learned the woman's family was not aware of what was happening here. Her son, who lives out of state, flew into town and got his mom out.
The neighborhood is now back to a sense of normalcy.
Getting this far, Jackson says, would not be possible without a little help.
"You guys definitely had a huge part of it. I am not going to say it was all of it, but, Venton, I can't say it wasn't,” added Jackson.
