Okay… and what else?

For the past three years, we’ve gotten pretty good at offering employment opportunities to people who need it.

You need work. Show up. Work hard. Get paid.
Show up. Work hard. Get paid.

Honestly, we’ve gotten really damn good at it.

So good that more than 100 people have come through our Workforce Program, and we’re closing in on $150,000 paid directly in wages.

I’m incredibly proud of that.

But lately I’ve been asking myself a different question:

What if we could do more than ask people to show up?

Quick story. Stick with me.

For the last couple of months, we’ve been busting our tails on a massive property cleanup. And when I say massive, I mean abandoned belongings, illegally dumped trash, overturned cars, and somewhere around 300 shopping carts. It has been one of the biggest jobs we’ve ever taken on.

And we’ve been knocking it out, one piece at a time.

It has shown me how much Raleigh Cleanup has grown and what we’re capable of taking on. But more importantly, it has reminded me how good the team around me is: our incredible volunteers and our hardworking Workforce crew.

One of my best Workforce crew members, I’ll call him M, works his absolute butt off for me. Whenever I need him.

During this recent project, I noticed he kept coming to work in the exact same clothes.

One afternoon, after asking him to work hard for five or six hours in 90+ degree North Carolina heat, something hit me.

When the workday ends, I get to go home. I can shower. Change clothes. Sit on the couch. Sleep in a bed.

He can't necessarily do any of those things.

His break from the heat might be a few hours inside the library before heading back outside to a tent and trying to get some sleep on the ground.

For a week straight.

He’s been transparent with me about how hard some nights can be. About what it sometimes takes just to get through the night and get a few hours of sleep outside.

And that really stuck with me.

He works hard for me, spends the night trying to find some way to rest on the ground, and somehow shows back up ready to work at 8:00 the next morning.

But then I found out that he and another crew member had been splitting a motel room.

My first thought was, that's awesome.

Then I asked how much.

$85.

I had just paid him $100 for five hours of work.

So after five hours of hard physical labor in the heat, he had a shower, some air conditioning and a bed for the night.

And $15 left.

Yeah. I’ve got to do more.

For three years, the goal has been to create immediate access to work. No application. No résumé. No hoops to jump through. Come work hard, and I'll pay you fairly for it.

I still believe deeply in that model.

But what if The Great Raleigh Cleanup could become something more?

What if working with us could become full-time or semi-full-time employment for a few people?

What if working with us could help someone access stable housing?

What if a Workforce shift wasn't just a paycheck, but a gateway to another job?

What if show up, work, get paid became show up, work, get paid...and build toward something?

I don't know exactly what that looks like yet. I just know it needs to happen.

That's why I've contracted with Maggie Burch to help us figure it out: what we're doing well, what's missing, and what it would take to build a deeper Workforce Program.

And maybe the answer is that we can't serve as many people.

Maybe instead of giving a little opportunity to a lot of people, we find a way to pour more into a smaller number of people and give them a real chance to build toward something sustainable.

One thing I already know:

We need more work.

Our partnership with the City of Raleigh has been HUGE, and it continues to grow. I'll have more to share about that soon.

But I'm also thinking about what TGRC can build ourselves.

I've wanted to explore sustainable junk hauling for a long time. Maybe this fall we're raking and hauling leaves. Maybe there are contracts and services we haven't even thought of yet that allow us to employ people consistently while doing more to make Raleigh better.

Connections to housing, transportation, identification, clothing, job training and other resources matter.

But you know what else matters? Money. More hours. More work. More cash in someone's pocket.

That's where I know we can start.

That’s my TO DO LIST

We've proven we can create work.

Now I want to figure out how we turn that work into opportunity.

Preston