ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- An abandoned home along Evergreen Street in Rochester is more than just a vacant building to Rocco Stagnitto: it's a site where one father and a group of volunteers gathered to remember a son and other victims that have succumb to the ongoing drug abuse problem taking over the area.

“It's sacred ground to me because this is actually the exact spot where my son died,” said father Rocco Stagnitto.

“My daughter died of a heroin overdose just a few feet from where I slept. We want legislation, we want clean up, we want resources, and we want treatment options that is how I'll keep my daughter's memory alive,” said volunteer Kellie Murray.

A cleanup project Sunday was put together in honor of Stagnitto's son Anthony, who passed away on the grounds of Evergreen Street from a heroin overdose. The operation is a part of a mission to raise awareness and save lives.

“We probably picked up over 300 needles already,” said volunteer Nicholas Laborde. All my good friends are dying somehow, and most of the ways is heroin.”

“My son's not the first one to die here and we want him to be the last. People need to know that this is not just a city problem. A lot of the people that come here from the suburbs, and from the country and from all over half the state come to this neighborhood just to get drugs,” said Stagnitto.

The Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency reports a 671 percent increase in heroin overdoses since 2000.

“Seeing all these open needles and baggies and the ties for the arms, it's outrageous. I've never seen so many needles in my life,” said Elizabeth Perry, of Lyons.

“This may not look like a lot. It's our little corner. It is happening in the country. In our cities, in our schools, in our parking lots and it's happening three feet from where you sleep,” said Murray.

The initiative to clean up the drug infested neighborhoods continued for several blocks, and volunteers said this won't be the end of their fight to tackle the war on heroin.

Stagnitto says he plans on holding more cleanup projects and building a memorial for his son near the site where he died.

For more information on drug abuse treatment in the Rochester area visit this website.