• With a growing number of individuals in Vancouver experiencing homelessness, the need to connect individuals to housing and economic opportunity for self-sufficiency is more pressing than ever.

• Since 2017, the City has partnered with Share to provide a supportive employment program known as the Talkin’ Trash program through a grant agreement to remove litter and debris from across the community.
• This program receives its funding from the City’s Solid Waste Enterprise Fund (490).
• This agreement expands Share’s current labor program and provides additional jobs to individuals experiencing homelessness that leads to full-time employment and stable housing.
• The current agreement expires December 31, 2023, and a new five-year agreement is proposed with additional scope and services, with increased grant funding to support essential services to the City and sustain the program in the years ahead.

Economic Opportunity - a place where a wide variety of businesses of all sizes grow and thrive.

Housing and Human Needs – meeting basic needs and partnering with organizations to support the community.

Presently, Share assists the City in removing litter, bulky debris and illegal dumping from City right-of-ways, City owned property and public spaces through a five-year grant agreement for litter collection and cleanup services. Through City grant funds, Share administers the Talkin’ Trash program, which provides a low barrier employment pathway to connect individuals experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity with connected, engaged supportive employment and opportunities to build self-sufficiency.

Share’s Talkin’ Trash program participants enter as Community Cleaners gaining on the job training and tailored support. They serve an essential role in supporting community health and livability, highlighted in this video: Talkin’ Trash program. Through the current five-year grant agreement Share’s Talkin’ Trash program has removed a total of 965 tons of litter and debris.

In September 2019, the Nonprofit Network of Southwest Washington recognized Share’s Talkin’ Trash program with the Nonprofit Excellence Award for Excellence in Innovation for the program’s creative approach to helping those affected by homelessness while providing critical cleanup services to the City. Furthermore, Share was recently awarded a private grant to purchase a second, more reliable vehicle for the crew. The additional vehicle positioned the program to be able to have reliable vehicles when running two teams and available to work full time and cover more areas of the City of Vancouver.

The City’s current five-year grant agreement with Share ends December 31, 2023. In recognition that this service plays a critical role to further the City’s commitment to a cleaner and more livable community, and to continue to advance the City’s Homeless Response Plan and efforts to address unsheltered homelessness, a next iteration of the grant agreement is needed to be in place to address the City’s ongoing needs.

Next Five Year Agreement

This proposed agreement builds off the City and Share’s prior agreement and works to retain and expand critical services for litter abatement, provide bag services to unsheltered homeless and deliver cleanup services communitywide, while adding staffing capacity and resources.

The proposed scope of work will continue to be provided by Share through a new agreement for a five-year term, beginning January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2028.

Key Provisions:

• Share will be responsible for recruiting and hiring additional individuals experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity, ensuring regular trainings and job experience, and connecting employees to housing.

• 80% of Community Cleaner time (32 hours per week) dedictated to litter cleanup. 20% of their time (8 hours per week) dedicated to workforce readiness - job skills and training, housing connections and case management.
•  Benefits include paid sick leave and vacation time. Competitive and locally comparable wages, at Washington state minimum wage for crew members, with subsequent higher wage for up to two driver positions, a manager position and new case management role to provide support and individualized support to program participants to support employment transitions.
• Retains the ability for the City and Share to furhter partner should the occasion or need arise to remove limited and select litter items from private property that present an immediate public health and/or safety concern to the benefit of these entities and the broader community, consistent with City policy.
• Provides basic sanitation services and peer support to individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness offering bags and bulky waste removal to address basic sanitation need, and closes service equity gaps to enhance community trust and respect to our more vulnerable community members.
• In addition, Share will be required to collect data, provide administrative and program costs, and submit monthly reports, consistent with the current agreement.

In summary, through this grant agreement, Share will deliver a program that provides individuals opportunities to re-enter the workforce, who are most likely facing employment barriers that contribute to homelessness. Through this partnership, participants will also receive case management support, on-the-job training, shelter and housing stability, and further develop transferable skills.

If authorized by Council, the City and Share agree to perform the expanded scope of work at the new grant funded level effective January 1, 2024.

Based on favorable performance and an existing community need, City staff recommends approving the new five-year grant agreement with Share for Litter Collection and Cleanup Services.

1. Maintaining a grant funded agreement with this existing recipient provides continuity for efficient and convenient removal of litter and cleanup activities, positively benefiting residents, businesses and City Departments such as Public Works and HART.
2. The availability of multiple sites helps reduce congestion that would result from offering fewer vendors and may reduce travel time and distance for users.
3. This new agreement increases wages, retains staff and includes the additional crew, scope of work and benefits. The new agreement would expand the capacity of the Talkin’ Trash program to include seven days a week service and continues the opportunity for the City to pilot further tasks with the vendor.
4. The program not only provides for litter collection, which is always needed, but also provides additional opportunity for community members experiencing unsheltered homelessness or housing insecurity to obtain low barrier, supportive employment, receive housing and move to self-sufficiency.