As our series, One City, Many Mayors continues, we travel to one corner of the Bronx neighborhood of Parkchester, where a woman is beautifying the area one block at a time.

Nilka Martell has lived her entire life in this building on the corner of Virginia and Newbold Avenues in Parkchester.

"I love where I live," Martell said. "I'm probably going to live here until the day I die. I love this community."

After being laid off in 2010, she began volunteering on numerous city Parks projects, but then she realized there was a need closer to home. That block Martell loved so much, was looking a bit shabby.

"I was looking out the window and we have these green spaces on our block and they were always full of weeds and dog waste," she said.

So she and her kids started tending to trees and pulling up weeds on Newbold Avenue.

"Each tree got 30 gallons of water," Martell said. "If you look at it, it's just huge now. It's absolutely beautiful."

That drew a crowd interested in what was going on, and wanting to help.

"In two, three months we had like 40 volunteers," Martell said. "Forty local volunteers which really comprised of a lot of kids that had nothing to do in the summertime."

What started out as a small block beautification project, grew into a organization called Getting Involved Virginia Avenue Efforts or GIVE. Through grants the group spruced up the block by adding planters, building tree guards, installing a dog waste system and bench for residents to take a break.

"When you look out the window and see things like that it's real pretty," said a neighbor.

GIVE also helps clean up graffiti in the area.

And Martell's work doesn't stop here on this block it extends throughout the entire borough.

GIVE  has branched out to tend trees in the borough's public parks.

Now Martell is transitioning the organization into Loving the Bronx which highlight all things Bronx.

Saturday she held her first walking tour in Hunts Point.

However, Martell's heart still lies with the neighborhood, and block in particular, where she grew up.

"I love everything about it, just walking in my community, talking to neighbors seeing what they're up to, how they're doing, if they need anything," she said.