AT NOTORIOUS public housing flats in Reid the petty criminals shoot up drugs and the mentally ill have been known to throw televisions out the window. But nobody touches the broccoli.
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Electrician-turned-social worker Mark Ransome has been working a tough beat for the past three years, helping residents throughout a set of flats known for attracting police attention.
''Originally this site looked like a war zone,'' the 53-year-old said, standing in a community garden at the Kanangra Court apartments.
''At first it was tough because no one wants you here.''
The stuffed scarecrow is not the only guard watching over the plot, which will yield 50 kilograms of vegetables this winter.
''I can't be everywhere and the residents are very protective of this garden and the mothers and kids when they're out here,'' Mr Ransome said.
Each Wednesday further down the road at Bega Court, he stands guard outside a secluded laundry so the women can safely do their washing.
He starts his shift by picking syringes out of the washing machines and, if it is autumn, sweeping up the cocktail of leaves and syringes out the front.
Mr Ransome and his employer, Reclink Australia, won awards from ACT Health for work done at the flats to help make residents healthier. ACT Health along with the Justice and Community Safety Directorate finances his work at the flats.
Reclink's program includes reclaiming unused community space and organising a run, walk or roll around Lake Burley Griffin, an event keenly contested by most demographics of tenants, from the elderly to reforming drug users.
