For the past two months, a street cleaning crew dressed in bright blue uniforms has been working five days a week in the Gramercy Park neighborhood.
Their geographical focus is around Gramercy Park, along Irving Place to 16th Street, up Lexington Avenue to 22nd Street, and on the corners of Third Avenue and Park Avenue South from 17th Street to 22nd Street.
These men, who are formerly homeless, are from the signature program of The Doe Fund called Ready, Willing, and Able (RWA). This is a New York based non-profit organization whose mission is "to develop and implement programs that meet the needs of a diverse population working to break the cycles of homelessness, addiction, and criminal recidivism." RWA provides job skills training, social support services and the paid employment experience necessary to secure and maintain private sector employment and self-supported housing.
Trainees work in supervised crews as part of the Community Improvement Project. Some of the RWA crew's responsibilities include sweeping streets, curbs and sidewalks, collecting and bagging refuse, removing graffiti, steam cleaning sidewalks, shoveling snow, cleaning tree pits, maintaining trash receptacles, and cleaning street furniture such as fire hydrants and bus stops.
The Gramercy Park Block Association President Arlene Harrison and GPBA members have warmly welcomed the RWA crew to the area. "For years our organization has used Back Office, The Doe Fund's excellent mailing service. We are now excited to be welcoming Ready, Willing, and Able to the neighborhood. These men are terrific, enthusiastic, and really take pride in their work. We love having them here and the streets have never looked cleaner," said Harrison.
