The City of Vancouver has approved $2.64M for the 2024 Street Cleaning Grant program. The funds from the annual program go towards various non-profit organizations in Vancouver that provide meaningful work opportunities for those who may be facing barriers.
More specifically, the funding will support street cleaning duties allocated across areas of Downtown Vancouver such as micro-cleaning which involves picking up litter and needles on foot. This includes Mission Possible’s Clean Team who have micro-cleaning routes all throughout the City of Vancouver and work closely with a number of Business Improvement Areas (BIAs).
As one of the recipients, Mission Possible will receive $1,211,900 for the MP Maintenance Program.
A Mission Possible associate spoke with the CBC about how the Street Cleaning program has impacted her life.
"For me, right now in my recovery, this job gives me enough flexibility to really focus on other aspects and areas of my life," she told CBC News.
"[It] was so important for me to just rebuild my confidence," she added. "And, like, being accountable and showing up and relearning those things that perhaps I might have lost my life."
The 2023 street cleaning grant funding had the following impacts:
- Micro-cleaning in an area covering 7 km2 within 22 BIAs
- Micro-cleaning of 25 permanent and pop-up plazas and 18 parklets
- 72,300 work hours to individuals with barriers to traditional employment
- 35,400 bags of litter and 100,100 needles collected
- 19,900 cumulative feces removals in the downtown area
Learn more about the grant and what this means for the community here!
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