City of Mobile Launching Program That Pays Homeless to Pick Up Litter

Litter on the streets is a real problem in many major cities across America. But how do municipalities solve this consistent issue?

One southern city may have come up with an ingenious idea.

"We're calling it Road to Work since they will be working on the road," said Matt Armbruster, Random Ministries Executive Director.

Armbruster hopes to see the program grow into an extension of the work they already do to help the homeless in their area.

“Our ultimate goal is not about the litter it’s about building relationships with them because they’re humans, just like we are, then we can give them the wrap-around services that the guy’s in our recycling programs such as the mental health and the health care,” he said.

The program will start with five people, but the hope is it works and it expands to employ more people. The program participants will be selected from the Waterfront Rescue Mission and each will be paid $9 an hour.

This pilot program will run for 60 days and cost the city nearly $30,000 to test out.

The city believes the money will be well spent.

“This is a really inexpensive way to do job training, get litter cleaned up off of our streets to make an improvement in our community, and set folks up for success,” said Casi Callaway the City of Mobile Chief Resilience Officer.

We're betting other cities will be keeping an eye on this program and if it succeeds, expect it to be duplicated in other places.