“You don’t realize how hard it is to get back on your feet. It will give back confidence and self-esteem.” — Christine Gonzalez, a homeless San Jose woman, after filling out an application for a city-sponsored program starting in November that will pay homeless people $15 an hour to pick up trash at 40 litter hot spots around the city.<doc-sep>San Jose is home to some beautiful architecture and brilliant art, but also to freeway on-ramps and creek embankments that are littered with ugly trash and debris. Now, the city is launching a new effort to clean up dirty parts of town, and it’ll help dozens of homeless people get back on their feet at the same time. Starting in November, San Jose will pay more than 25 homeless residents at least $15 an hour to pick up trash at more than 40 “hotspots” around the city. “We are working to transform lives,” Mayor Sam Liccardo said during a press conference at Downtown Streets Team’s San Jose office Thursday morning to announce the new program. The organization, which works to end homelessness, and Goodwill will hire and manage the workers. Normandin Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram offered steep discounts on two trucks to support the effort. The ultimate goal is to help participants transition into full-time employment. The litter hotspots identified stretch across the city, from Senter Road near Capitol Expressway to Willow Street under Highway 87 and Mabury Road near Interstate 680. One of the hotspots that crews will patrol is around the Tully ballfields on Tully Road near Galveston Avenue, where Little League families have complained recently about an increasingly unsafe environment. A number of homeless people live near Coyote Creek, which runs alongside the ballfields, and the area is often strewn with litter. Jonathan Fleming, president of the nearby Senter Monterey Neighborhood Association, said he’s “extremely excited” about the new program. Fleming, who proposed a similar idea earlier this year as part of an unsuccessful bid for a seat on the City Council, said he thinks the program will give participants a sense of purpose. And he’s hopeful workers who clear debris from the area can talk with residents of the nearby encampments and encourage them to help keep the area clean by gathering their trash together rather than allowing it to litter the ground. “I’m very optimistic and hopeful that it will help,” Fleming said. In addition to helping beautify San Jose and giving the city’s homeless residents an opportunity to work, Liccardo said the program is an effort to “change the narrative.” Too often, people see trash on roadsides or creek embankments and place blame solely on homeless people, the mayor said, when “the fact is, it comes from many sources.” Christine Gonzalez, a domestic violence victim who lost her home after battling a drug addiction and spending years couch surfing, completed an application to participate in the program. Gonzalez said she’s been volunteering with Downtown Streets Team for several years — and receiving gift cards for basic necessities in return — but appreciates the opportunity to earn a paycheck. Related Articles Map: San Jose’s 40 trash ‘hot spots’ “You don’t realize how hard it is to get back on your feet,” Gonzalez said. “It will give back confidence and self-esteem.” The program will initially be funded through a $200,000 litter abatement grant approved by the City Council earlier this year, but there’s no set end date and officials would like to see the program continue. “We want to see this pilot be successful,” said Chris Richardson, of Downtown Streets Team. Trish Dorsey, vice president of mission services at Goodwill of Silicon Valley, said the program will create a supportive environment to help people transition back into working. “Goodwill’s mission aligns perfectly with the mayor’s initiative by giving people a hand up versus a hand out,” Dorsey said. Gerald Caison, who has also experienced homelessness, thinks the new program will help people build up a sense of integrity. “What’s happening now,” Caison said, “it gives you hope.”<doc-sep>San Jose is launching a new program to clean up the streets while also helping get people off them. The initiative will employ 25 homeless residents to pick up trash at 40 "litter hotspots" around the city. The employees will be paid $15 per hour and work four to five hours per day. The pilot program was announced by Mayor Sam Liccardo Thursday in partnership with Goodwill and Downtown Streets Team. Participants will start picking up trash in November. While the pay is better than San Jose's minimum wage (currently at $13.50 per hour as it scales toward $15 by 2019), it's probably still not enough to afford living in the South Bay city, even if the work were full-time. A one-bedroom apartment costs an average $2,364 a month, according to Rent Cafe. If things go well, the mayor's office says it would consider expanding the program to more participants. "As we've seen the trash and debris coming from homeless encampments mount, too often our homeless residents are dismissed simply as 'the problem'," said Mayor Sam Liccardo in a press release. "We intend to show that our work-ready homeless residents can become, and want to become, part of 'the solution'—both for themselves, and for our community." Similar programs organized by Downtown Streets Team are already operating in cities around the Bay Area, including San Francisco, Berkeley, Hayward, Sunnyvale and Palo Alto. Read Alix Martichoux's latest stories and send her news tips at amartichoux@sfchronicle.com. Start receiving breaking news emails on wildfires, civil emergencies, riots, national breaking news, Amber Alerts, weather emergencies, and other critical events with the SFGATE breaking news email. Click here to make sure you get the news.<doc-sep>
Image 1 of 3 ▼ San Jose has teamed up with the Downtown Streets Team and Goodwill to offer homeless people jobs cleaning up trash and debris at "hotspots" near freeways in the city. The city will be funding the jobs with a $200,000 grant, Mayor Sam Liccardo announced at a news conference today. The minimum-wage jobs will begin at $15 an hour and about two dozen people will be selected for the first cohort in November. Approximately 40 garbage hotspots are mapped out near U.S. Highway 101 and Interstate Highways 880 and 680, in addition to major thoroughfares like Capitol Expressway and Story, Tully and Senter Roads. Liccardo said homeless encampments are too often blamed for garbage problems and debris buildup, even though trash comes from a variety of sources. "Today we're going to change the narrative from dismissing our homeless residents as part of the problem, to embracing the opportunity for them to part of the solution, both for themselves and for our community," Liccardo said. Mercy Wong, 63, has been searching for housing while living on the street in downtown San Jose for about five months. She's currently preparing her application for the transitional jobs program, and said the county helped her put together and print out her resume. She's lived in San Jose for 24 years, and said she loves the Downtown Streets Team. She hopes to be one of the first workers in the pilot program. "It really helps us to be strong with ourselves, because I have a very low self esteem," Wong said. "They help me lift myself up and be responsible, be a good worker and be just who I am." Groups will work four to five hours a day every one to two weeks and the program hopes to create a pipeline for full-time work and stable paychecks. The program, part of San Jose's .BeautifySJ initiative, received large discounts on two trucks from Normandin Chrysler Jeep Dodge. The city's transportation and park departments will oversee the cleanup work. The Downtown Streets Team operates across the Bay Area, including in San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Hayward, Oakland, San Rafael and Novato.