Fresno leaders push program putting ‘hard to hire’ people to work cleaning alleys and litter
Fresno city leaders representing the Tower District are pursuing a partnership with Neighborhood Industries that would put “hard to hire” people to work cleaning up litter in the area.
The Fresno City Council will vote Thursday whether to approve the $125,000 contract during its regular meeting.
“Through this program, we’re going to continue to augment the possibility to change people’s lives,” said Councilmember Esmeralda Soria, who represents the Tower District north of Olive Avenue. “This program will allow Neighborhood Industries to provide employment opportunities within the program for individuals experiencing homelessness, those that are precariously housed and people living in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty.”
The new, year-long contract is a continuation of a 2020 pilot project that was part of the Tower Beautification Project. The pilot was successful and well received by the community, Soria said.
Neighborhood Industries, a thrift and recycling development business, will partner with Live Again Fresno, a nonprofit that serves families living on Motel and Parkway drives, to hire people to clean alleyways and other neighborhood areas that fall victim to illegal dumping.
“This program is not only going to beautify the neighborhood, but it’s going to provide those folks that have barriers to employment to get the opportunity to get a job,” Soria said during a news conference Tuesday.
Councilmember Miguel Arias, who represents the Tower District south of Olive, said as the city fosters economic development in south Fresno neighborhoods through events, it’s important neighbors don’t bear the brunt of those events.
“You have to make sure that the neighbors and their neighborhoods are kept clean after the party is over,” he said.
The partnership fits with Mayor Jerry Dyer’s “Beautify Fresno” initiative. Dyer praised Neighborhood Industries for the organization’s work to hire people who may have a criminal history or live on the streets.
“Neighborhood Industries are the ones that reach out to those people on our streets — people that have oftentimes been forgotten and overlooked — and they give them an opportunity to be important,” Dyer said. “This neighborhood is worth investing in. Those people that are going to be cleaning this neighborhood are worth investing in.”
This story was originally published November 3, 2021 at 1:32 PM.