Danny Ferrin said he and other homeless people don’t want to live with the “garbage that you see all the time on the news,” but they can get in legal trouble for putting trash in someone’s garbage bin or dumpster.
He’s never heard of a trash day for the homeless.
“It’s an amazing and wonderful thing,” said Danny Ferrin. “It makes you feel better about the place where you live. You can take more pride in it.”
The service was organized by a grassroots group that includes members of the Historic Parkrose Neighborhood Partnership, the Parkrose Business Association, a Portland Police officer and a pastor at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church.
Mingus Mapps, the district manager for the Historic Parkrose Neighborhood Partnership Initiative, said it started with a conversation with Officer Jason Jones.
The nonprofit, which promotes economic development in the northeast Portland neighborhood, shares an office space with a Portland Police Bureau community policing station.
“We’ve spent a lot of time talking about the neighborhood and things we wish we could fix,” said Mapps.