More roses now flourish in Porterdale’s historic Rose Hill community thanks to a grant from Keep Covington/Newton Beautiful given to the Community Assistance Relief Effort program, a non-profit that assists with community projects in Porterdale.

C.A.R.E. received a $1,000 grant from KCNB — an environmental awareness organization in Newton, for the completion of its landscaping project of planting roses in the Rose Hill Historic District. The grant helped to buy about 60 rose bushes, which were planted at the south bank of North Broad Street Saturday morning by alumni of the Porterdale Police Academy, city workers and volunteers.

C.A.R.E. Chairman and Porterdale city council woman Linda Finger said C.A.R.E also received a $1,000 grant from KCNB last year.

That grant helped to pay for the initial planting of roses at Rose Hill as volunteers from C.A.R.E., the University of Georgia’s Landscape Architecture students, and citizens were all involved in the landscaping venture.

Finger said C.A.R.E partners up with other agencies frequently to complete beautification projects. She said the organizations goal is to make the city look better. She added that in addition to the landscaping efforts Rose Hill, the city of Porterdale also has other ongoing projects that are taking place in order to beautify the town.

Porterdale Mayor Arline Chapman is continuing to place Little Free Libraries — small decorated boxes with books, around the city for the community to enjoy, Finger said.

"That’s been a big project of hers and it is great. People are really using them," she said.

In addition, Finger said the city has built up its parks for children in the community. She said between all the different projects, the city is looking to get back to its "old glory."

"For so many years, it’s been you know, just run down and it’s a team effort," she said. "Everyone is working together… and it looks great when you are coming into the city."

Finger said the city is also working to beautify the downtown area. She said the city’s hope is to attract more businesses to the area, and said officials will also be rolling out a plan to encourage people to buy homes in Porterdale.

"Typically when people own their homes, they take a little bit more pride in it," she said.

Finger also said C.A.R.E for the second year in a row received a pallet of 5- gallon paint buckets from Valspar Paint, which would help to paint the exteriors of homes in the area.

"So far, we’ve supplied paint for 12 houses," she said. "We already have the paint on hand, so anyone who is interested in doing that, we’ll certainly make it possible for them."

"It’s good to see progress. I think it is a good morale booster for the residents to see what we are doing."