When the crew of three entered the block-long section of a downtown alley between 18th and 19th streets Monday, their truck bed and trailer were already heaped with large-item trash.
But there was plenty of small-item trash, too, strewn up and down the alley — and that’s when all three pairs of boots again hit the pavement. The workers spread out and went at it until every speck of paper, every scrap of litter was picked up and placed in black trash bags held by each worker.
They not only cleaned the alley of litter, they scooped up trash on the streets that connected to the alley. The transformation was stunning, if an alley can be stunning.
It was like one of those children’s stories of old where an aging shoemaker goes to bed exhausted from his work and awakens to find all the shoes on his work bench had been finished by hard-working elves who had labored through the night.
Only these workers were people, real people who had been lost and were trying to find themselves again — through work.
“I love my job,” said Brittany Raymond, who led the crew of three as part of Clean City Initiative, a collaboration between Open Door Network and the city of Bakersfield.
The work is hard, she acknowledged, especially when the sun is beating down. But there’s also dignity and pride that she has in her work. You can tell just by looking at her.
David Madding, director of programs at the Open Door Network, has been working with crews for years.
“These work crews are intended for low-barrier folks, folks who have been incarcerated, folks who have had alcohol or drug problems, folks who’ve been experiencing homelessness or sexual assault, human trafficking, domestic violence,” Madding said.
They are individuals who need some extra help toward stability.
“This is a job. This is not a volunteer opportunity,” he said. “They are employees of the Open Door Network and they’re being paid.”
The work program has been going since 2008, Madding said. It started with a small contract with the city of Bakersfield for green waste.
The workers were called downtown ambassadors.
“It has since expanded significantly,” Madding said. “We have 110 crewmembers on 17 different crews, working for the city, the county, private companies.
“Some are doing litter abatement,” Madding said, “some are doing recycling.”
It also includes the Waste Hunger, Not Food program put on by the Department of Public Health. Drivers pick up excess food from restaurants and schools and give it to organizations for distribution.
By happenstance, it turns out that September is workforce development month, a month that honors the efforts of those in the workforce development field, helping people retool, reeducate and become gainfully employed.
“It impacts not just that individual, but the community as a whole,” Madding said.
“We have several case managers,” he said. “We offer classes like financial wellness, job interviewing skills, a whole bunch of classes designed to get somebody workforce ready.
“When somebody has access to the dignity of work, it transforms their lives,” Madding said.
“It liberates people. And it gives folks an opportunity to reimagine what their lives could be.
“They don’t have to be defined by the past,” he said, “because they’re moving into the future.”