PLACENTIA

A group of residents wanted Pee Wee’s market on La Jolla Street to clean up its act, pointing to graffiti, loitering and drinking in the parking lot, and liquor shelved next to sodas and juices inside the store. In early September they organized a task force and got owner Oscar Abreu to agree to improve Pee Wee’s.

Nearly six months later, Pee Wee’s doesn’t look like the same store. The graffiti and loiterers are gone, and alcohol is shelved away from other beverages, said Yolanda Yeomans, a community organizer for the YMCA and member of the task force.

“We do this for community awareness. We want a healthy environment,” Yeomans said. “Once [residents] see something cleaned up, it’s a form of empowerment. They can see change.”

Abreu said he wasn’t aware of some of the problems before the task force came into being, but he said he’s glad he made the changes. “[The store] looks better. It feels better,” he said. “It’s good for everybody.”