A new City Hall-nonprofit partnership will rescue and replace Modesto’s Downtown Streets Team, city leaders say.
The Modesto Gospel Mission and local United Way will step in to keep the trash-pickup-by-homeless program from being swept away in the city. Downtown Streets Team’s parent organization announced abruptly in late August that it is folding Oct. 31 in the 16 California cities where it operates.
The goal is to have no drop-off in litter removal, although the program won’t restart until January, said Modesto Gospel Mission CEO Jason Conway.
“Modesto is the only one to reimagine and retain its program,” said City Councilman Eric Alvarez, whose district includes downtown. “It’s a true example of collaboration and prudence in how to address homelessness.”
The new program will be called Hope Works by the Modesto Gospel Mission, which also runs a shelter on Yosemite Boulevard. Hope Works will get off the ground Jan. 1 to allow time for training and onboarding through a temporary employment agency.
“We’re super excited to salvage this program,” Conway said.
Unhoused people working to keep downtown cleaner will continue receiving help with housing and jobs in the revamped program, as well as mental health and substance use services. But they also will earn minimum wage. Previously workers had been unpaid under a volunteer model that led to legal challenges for the parent organization, based in the Bay Area.
“It’s going to the next level – in pay, and also because services will be locally controlled by people here in Modesto, not some corporate office,” Councilman Nick Bavaro said. “What seemed like a sucker punch is now a blessing.”
The council on Tuesday approved a $1.25 million 10-month agreement with the Modesto Gospel Mission to run Hope Works and with United Way to administer the program. Most of the contract – $1 million – comes from a state grant.
The Stanislaus Community Foundation and other groups will help with fundraising in following years to help make the program locally sustainable.
Hope Works participants also will do graffiti removal, according to a staff report. In time they will venture beyond downtown to other parts of Modesto, Conway said.
Born and raised in Modesto, Conway was homeless in his late 20s before seeking help for an addiction and coming to the Gospel Mission. “I’m fully invested in the mission and in Modesto,” he said. “I draw from a place of brokenness to make the mission and Modesto better.”
Hope Works will provide outreach and employment support for up to 68 participants for the first 10 months. That’s about the same number of people as Downtown Streets served, Conway said.
Since Downtown Streets began in Modesto in 2019, 937 participants have removed 2.6 million pounds of trash, the report says.
Council members praised City Manager Joe Lopez and Community and Economic Development Director Jessica Hill for saving the program, and reinventing it with local partners to become Hope Works
“They didn’t just clone (the program),” said Modesto Councilman Chris Ricci, “they also learned why it failed and replaced the weaknesses with strengths.”
Garth Stapley is the accountability reporter for The Modesto Focus, a project of the nonprofit Central Valley Journalism Collaborative. Contact him at garth@cvlocaljournalism.org.