LEHIGH ACRES: All but one Lee County community saw crime rates drop in 2008.

Lehigh Acres is the exception. Crime there rose three percent from 2007 to 2008. But with the help of one county program, that number could change in 2009.

The "Weed And Seed" program helps neighbors clean crime out of their streets, similar to the way people living near Lehigh's Martin Avenue and Meadow Road intersection did.

Four years ago, Deborah Sebastian wasn't so proud to call the neighborhood home.

"You were afraid to go outside. You were afraid to leave your home," said Sebastian. "We had overflowing dumpsters, and people were dumping contractor materials out here." She noticed that as blight moved in, so did crime.

"We had so much crime in the area. We had 9 break-ins in 10 days," said Sebastian.

That's when she began the project she continues today, cleaning up the neighborhood.

She formed a neighborhood watch group, and they began picking up trash to attract better neighbors.

"What we didn't expect is that all that would deter crime as well. It has deterred crime in a very, very big way," said Sebastian.

Now her group works with the Lee County Sheriff's Office's "Weed And Seed" program. With clean-ups like one held Saturday morning in Lehigh Acres, deputies hope the program brings success stories to other crime-ridden neighborhoods.

"If you find neighbors that bond together to help their neighborhood look clean, they will also bond together to watch each other's backs," said Captain Ed Tamayo of the Lee County Sheriff's Office.

Weeding out blight also helps eliminate places criminals like to lurk. Tamayo says crimes committed in or around vacant houses played a big role in bringing Lehigh Acres' crime rate up last year.

Sebastian believes cleaning up neglected areas sends a strong message to trouble-makers.

"People are watching. It would be better to go have a neighborhood that has it's weeds all growing up and they can hide behind things.

There's no place to hide here, so they can go crawl under a rock someplace else," Sebastian said, adding that she encourages anyone living in a high-crime area to get their neighbors involved, and give crime a clean sweep.

"You can do this, and it has got to come from you. Your neighborhood is your home so you're the one who has to go out, meet your neighbors, clean it up. The end result, more than anything, is that we're just a big family now," said Sebastian.

LEE COUNTY: The Lee County Sheriffs Office invites everyone to join and learn how to begin a neighborhood watch.

Weed and Seed representatives will be at the corner of Martin Ave and Meadow Road  until 1:00 p.m. in Lehigh Acres.

Deborah Sebastian, neighborhood watch coordinator, got the ball rolling in her community and started a neighborhood watch and clean-up group. She says the results are incredible.

About four years ago the area was a dumping ground with overflowing dumpsters, abandoned homes and crime everywhere.

At one point the neighborhood remembers nine break-ins in ten days.

LCSO invites everyone to join and learn how to begin your own neighborhood watch