Downtown Clean Team: Serving the Heart of Missoula for 20 Years!
DOWNTOWN CLEAN TEAM: SERVING THE HEART OF MISSOULA FOR 20 YEARS!
The Downtown Missoula Partnership invites the community to the 20th-year celebration of its most beloved crew – the Downtown Clean Team – on Wednesday, July 22 at Out to Lunch in Caras Park. The Downtown Clean Team will be recognized onstage around 11:45 am, and complimentary cake will be served.
The Clean Team was created in the spring of 2006 through a formal partnership between the Downtown Business Improvement District and Opportunity Resources, Inc. (ORI). Funded by property owners in the district, the Downtown BID was seeking to improve the cleanliness of Downtown by employing a team of people to focus on common-area maintenance. Opportunity Resources was already providing crew-based services for the Missoula Downtown Association’s Out to Lunch in Caras Park, so it made sense to seek an elevated partnership to focus on the district year-round.
“Some of our newly-appointed BID Board members travelled to Spokane that winter for a site visit with the Downtown Spokane Partnership to better understand how they were doing common-area maintenance and safety programming,” said BID Board Member Ellen Buchanan. “At the time, we were exploring the potential to contract with an organization supporting individuals coming out of incarceration, but we also had this great working relationship with ORI already established, so we made the decision to support our local non-profit putting folks with disabilities into the workforce. Our entire community has really benefitted from this program, and our Clean Team members are some of Downtown Missoula’s most beloved employees.”
Comprised of five adults with developmental disabilities alongside a supervisor, the Downtown Clean Team has played a key role in making Downtown Missoula the cleanest city center in the Pacific Northwest. The Clean Team works Downtown Monday through Friday from 9am-2:30pm, picking up garbage, sweeping the sidewalks and alleys, removing organic matter from the gutters, weeding the tree wells, weeding and mulching the bulb-outs, chipping ice off the ADA ramps and stormwater drains, sweeping snow off the parking meter solar panels, removing posters and flyers, and returning shopping carts to grocery stores across 80 blocks of Downtown Missoula.
“There is nothing more joyful than seeing the Downtown Clean Team connecting with our Downtown business owners and community members,” said Charlie Beaton, President of the Downtown BID Board of Trustees. “Everyone in town has a great appreciation for the Downtown Clean Team, and the crew members have really benefited from having meaningful employment in a community setting, where they engage with people of all ages and abilities. It’s kind of magical!”
Current members of the Downtown Clean Team include Joe Isaacs, Billy Meyer, Bryan Heivilin, Walter Johnson, Pat Jones, and Shane Dufresne, as well as Stevie Adams, who has been with the crew since 2007, and Andy Bender, who has been with the crew since inception.
Since 2006, the Downtown Clean Team has removed 2,657 cubic yards of garbage from the streets, alleys, and gutters of Downtown, removed over 68,000 individual posters from street lights, and cleared ice and snow from the ADA ramps 17,000 times. Since 2018, the crew has cleared Downtown storm drains 3,470 times, returned 360 shopping carts to local grocery stores, and brushed snow off of the parking meter solar panels 564 times.
However, more important than the data is how the Clean Team members connect to their community on a daily basis. The crew knows most business owners and frontline employees. They talk to customers and community members every day, and business owners and employees often include the Clean Team in their holiday giving.
“The Downtown Clean Team is Opportunity Resources’ longest-running community employment crew, and it has become one of ORI’s most recognizable employment programs,” said Josh Kendrick, CEO of Opportunity Resources, Inc. “The Downtown Clean Team has also consistently been one of the most sought-after crew assignments for the individuals we serve. Crew members take great pride in their work, enjoy being visible members of the community, and value the opportunity to make a positive impact every day. The team’s longevity and continued success are a testament to the dedication of its members and the strong partnerships ORI has built within the Missoula community.”
Opportunity Resources has been a true champion in improving the quality of life for many people in our community by providing the opportunity to engage in meaningful employment, artistic and creative projects, stable housing, and community involvement for those with disabilities. ORI is close to completing the development of Opportunity Place, 24 new affordable and independent living opportunities for its clientele at 901 S. Third Street West.
The public is invited to help celebrate 20 years of the Downtown Clean Team on Wed., July 22 at Out to Lunch in Caras Park with the public presentation slated for approximately 11:45am. For more information on the Clean Team or the upcoming celebration, contact the Downtown Missoula Partnership via phone (406-543-4238) or email ([email protected]).