CA City Pays Homeless Communities To Clean Up Encampments

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ELK GROVE, CA — A small town near Sacramento recently launched a pilot program to pay those experiencing homeless to clean up spaces where they live, CNN reported.

In Elk Grove, a small city about 15 miles south of Sacramento, one of the largest concerns surrounding the issue of homelessness was the amount of trash, Sarah Bontrager, the city's housing and public services manager told CNN.

Thus the idea to incentivize those living in homeless encampments was born.

"Our public works staff were previously doing cleanups out at encampment sites ... and just spending a lot of time and money doing it. We also wanted a way to reduce interactions at the early stages of Covid," Bontrager told CNN.

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Read more from CNN: A California town is paying its homeless to clean their encampment sites

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City officials distribute trash bags about every two weeks, she said, and if those living in the encampments have waste gathered and bagged, they can receive up to $20 in gift cards to a grocery store.

Recipients may use these gift cards on anything except cigarettes and alcohol, Bontrager said.