Vancouver nonprofit’s trash removal program helps people experiencing homelessness find work

Since 2017, the Vancouver, Washington, nonprofit Share has been operating a program that removes roughly 20 tons of trash each month from homeless encampments, parks and other sites in the city. As reported by The Columbian, the Talkin’ Trash program recently received a grant to purchase three large containers and a donated dump truck to improve efficiency and safety for its work crew.

But perhaps the biggest impact the program is having is in the lives of the workers it hires, all of whom are either currently experiencing homelessness or transitioning out of it. They receive case management from a social worker to help them secure stable housing while receiving benefits, a salary, work experience and coaching for job interviews — along with other professional skills. Tony Colin is the manager of Talkin’ Trash. He joins us, along with Cassandra Buck, an employee who is currently experiencing homelessness, to share their perspectives about the program, and the challenges facing people who are unhoused.

This transcript was created by a computer and edited by a volunteer.

Dave Miller: This is Think Out Loud on OPB. I’m Dave Miller. Since 2017, the Vancouver nonprofit Share has been operating a program that removes garbage from homeless encampments, parks and other sites in the city – it’s called Talkin’ Trash. Workers collect roughly 20 tons of trash every month. But manager Tony Colin says that trash removal is not even the most important part of the program. He is more focused on the impact the program is having on the workers it hires. All of them are either homeless or transitioning into housing. He wants to help them transition into the workforce, as well.

As reported recently in The Columbian, the Talkin’ Trash program is going to be expanding operations, with a grant to purchase three large containers and a dump truck. Tony Colin joins us now, along with Cassandra Buck, one of the program’s seven current employees. It’s great to have both of you on the show.

Tony Colin: Hi, David. Thank you for the invite.

Miller: Thank you. Tony, first – what is a typical day like for you and your crew?

Colin: A typical day, like this morning, was starting our day at 8 a.m. And after all those who came in to work, briefing with them, seeing what urgent needs are needed from the community as far as responding to litter clean up, illegal dumping, and just strategizing how to tackle those sites.

Miller: So you’ll get a call saying, “Hey, there was a big dumping of some stuff in our neighborhood. Can you come and get it?”

Colin: A lot of calls… but we also work closely in hand with the HART team that is with the city. We focus more on small litter sites that just need some clean up, or some other illegal dumping that they can’t get to. Other times, I’m coming on Monday mornings with emails, text messages asking if we can visit the sites to clean ‘em up. As I mentioned, with the crew of currently three part-timers and three full-timers, we’re tackling that and just trying to beautify the city.

Miller: Cassandra, how did you find out about Talkin’ Trash?

Cassandra Buck: I found out about it through my case worker. She let me know that there was a job opportunity. It’s like a stepping-stone kind of job to get back into the workforce.

Miller: How long had it been since you’d had a job?

Buck: It had been over 10 years since I had a job. I was homeless so it was rough. But it helped me greatly.

Miller: So, your case worker said, “Hey, this is a possibility, a way to get back into work.” Why did you say yes to that idea?

Buck: Because I knew that I needed to get a job. I wasn’t gonna live off the government. So I thought about it, and I applied and got it.

Miller: What’s the job like, physically?

Buck: Physically, it’s demanding. It really is. I mean, you’re physically just picking up garbage. It could be really heavy from rain or just overall a lot of garbage, and it’s demanding on your body. But the aftermath is a good… seeing the results is a great feeling. So it’s worth it.

Miller: What about emotionally, though, to be around camps or encampments all the time after spending so much time on the street yourself?

Buck: To me, it doesn’t affect me that much because I know that I am going forward and I’m not going backwards. I’m going forward, and I can just see where I was and where I am now – and it’s a good thing. It’s not that emotional for me as far as… I don’t know, it’s just a good feeling, knowing that I’m helping other people. Yeah, good feeling.

Miller: Do you think that your own experience being homeless affects how you interact with people who you’re seeing, or whose trash you’re picking up?

Buck: Oh, yeah, it does. As far as looking back on it, it’s like, when I was homeless, I littered all the time because I just didn’t care. And looking back on it now, it’s just like, “Wow, that was just horrible.” You know, it’s not other people’s job to pick up after yourself. So that’s what I was thinking. It’s emotional at times… it can be.

Miller: Tony, how does your team approach people, say, at an individual tent or in a larger encampment? If you haven’t talked to them before, what’s your opener?

Colin: One of the things that we do with, not just Share but also Talkin’ Trash, our whole objective is to build relationships and not ruin them. So for those who we encounter living outdoors, we announce ourselves. Sometimes people who approach them might be thought [of] as someone that’s gonna invade their space. So we come and announce ourselves: “Hey, this is Talkin’ Trash.” Let them know the work that we do. We are just there to provide some services, such as litter control, and we offer them bags as a resource for them to collect trash. Like Cassandra mentioned, sometimes not having that resource just puts you in a point where you’re just tossing your litter, tossing your garbage, and hoping that it’ll get picked up. And so that’s mainly how we approach, we’re just trauma-informed and also person-centered.

Miller: Do you ever worry that people in encampments are going to see you as either brought in by law enforcement or brought in to sweep them?

Colin: There is that misconception, and that’s why it’s very important for us to say, “We are Talkin’ Trash.” You let them know, hey, this is who we are, and also building that relationship and building that connection, so we can go and say, “Hey, if you have garbage, place it here. We’re not invading your space.” That’s ultimately our goal. And I think many of them know that we’re just there to support them and help them control and pick up their litter.

Miller: Tony, I noted this at the beginning that a big goal of the program is to give people who are experiencing or recently experienced homelessness job-related skills. What are the skills that you focus the most on?

Colin: The thing that I focus most on is conditioning. Like Cassandra mentioned, it had been almost a decade before she had a job. So we treat this as any other job, because we want them to know what’s expected with other employers. With that comes conditioning – conditioning people to build a routine as far as coming to work, what their expectations are. But those soft skills that we built [are] both professional… so they can be successful. Some of ‘em might be building that computer literacy, some of that will be how to talk to your peers or other people, customers.

But ultimately, to answer your question, I would say just conditioning people to a routine, coming to work and being successful at it.

Miller: Cassandra, what were the biggest challenges for you in having a job again?

Buck: My biggest obstacle was, like Tony said, being to work on time and getting up, having a routine. Yeah, that was my biggest, biggest obstacle right there, because I was not used to it.

Miller: How did Tony respond? Let’s say you were late a couple of days in a row. First of all, did that happen? Were you ever late?

Buck: Oh yeah. Yes, I have been.

Miller: Well, how would he respond?

Buck: Well, he would just tell me, “You need to focus on your attendance.” He has got more patience than anybody I have ever met in my life. Yes, he’s given me a lot of chances, he really has. He’s helped me over many obstacles and he’s the perfect person for this job, let me tell you.

Miller: Tony, how do you figure out how much of a… I’m not sure on the radio how to put it… how tough to be as a boss, if you want a couple of things at once? You want there to be repercussions for bad behavior. You want to show people what they can and can’t do, that future employers would require of them. You also don’t want to fail everybody out of a program immediately. How do you figure out where the line is?

Colin: I think one of the things is, firstly, I never want to, never do I act [inaudible]. I wanna step back from that, because my focus, my approach to management, especially with this team that perhaps is their first time or a long time getting a job, is conditioning. And being mindful of, what’s their barriers that they’re facing, but to also meet the expectation of the employer.

For example, here at Share, if someone, “client A” ... or let’s go back to Cassandra, who mentioned she had some tardiness. Let her know, “Hey, there’s a pattern going on. What’s going on? Do you have an alarm clock?” Figure out the origin of what’s keeping them from being on time. It might be transportation. And if so, find the resources for them, to get those resources so they can be successful. Now, if you’re dealing with someone that you continue to coach, and it’s not working, it’s then maybe having that conversation: “Hey, I know you want to work, but do you think you’re ready at this time?”

But ultimately, our goal here is to be client centered. And not everyone that comes into Talkin’ Trash has the same barriers, not everyone wants the same services. And so just having that focus, but also letting everyone know they’re part of your team, so they don’t feel discouraged from someone who’s being late. It’s like, “Hey, everyone’s in a different level of life right now,” and just having them focus on what they’re doing, what their goal is.

That’s normally my approach. And I will continue that because I feel that it’s more supportive than enabling. They know at the end of the day, Share wants them to be successful and obtain long-term employment, but we also set what the expectation is. That comes with training and also conversations like I mentioned, coaching.

Miller: What do your numbers look like, in terms of folks who go on from Talkin’ Trash to jobs outside of this nonprofit’s world?

Colin: The numbers that I share with you right now are gonna be from January 2022 to about April this year. Those numbers were: 48 people came into the program. From those 48, one out of three were successful with either obtaining both employment after Talkin’ Trash and also housing. But even though that’s 33%, I want to say that, at the end of the day, how I look at it is, we gave 46 people the opportunity to work on themselves, to build that confidence and to hopefully take these tools, this knowledge and experience on moving forward.

Miller: In other words, even the two-thirds who didn’t necessarily move into housing or another job, they had an opportunity where someone was giving them a chance, and maybe the next time will take?

Colin: Definitely, and the next time, I have to say, yeah, a lot of times people do return and, again, it’s looking at what level of needs they have or they need, and seeing if we can address them.

Miller: Cassandra, where do you hope to be in five years?

Buck: Well, I am working on taking some classes online to start my own business, my own house cleaning business. That’s where I hope to be in five years.

Miller: If that happens, how much do you think that’ll be due to what you’ve learned from Tony and his program? We have about 30 seconds left.

Buck: I think it would… You know, that’s a hard question. I can’t answer that question right now. I really can’t. Sorry.

Miller: No problem. It’s a hard question with a time limit added to it. But Cassandra Buck and Tony Colin, thanks very much.

Colin: Thank you very much as well.

Buck: Thank you.

Miller: Tony Colin is the manager of the Vancouver nonprofit Share’s Talkin’ Trash’ program. Cassandra Buck is one of seven current employees at the program.

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