24-hour cleaning program hopes to take back Kensington neighborhood
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Kensington Business Corridor has become a place defined by the traumatic impacts of drug addiction in Northeast Philadelphia. But a recently launched 24-7 cleaning program is hoping to take back the neighborhood and help those struggling with addiction.
Kensington has become ground zero for Philadelphia's drug epidemic. It's also home to Patrice Rogers.
"It's traumatizing. It's traumatizing," Rogers said. "It's hard to deal with because, at the end of the day, these are people's loved ones."
Rogers runs Stop the Risk, an organization aiming to support her neighbors struggling with addiction, homelessness, and mental illness. The organization offers stability through temporary housing along with keeping her sidewalks clean.
Some days are not easy.
"To live in a community like this and have to see feces, trash, and people that's facing opioid addiction," Rogers said. "It's hard to grasp days like that."
Councilmember Quetcy Lozada is spearheading a recently launched around-the-clock cleaning program in the neighborhood.
"This community deserves a better, cleaner, safer neighborhood to raise their families," Lozada said.
The year-long pilot program is a collaborative mission with multiple city departments and agencies like SEPTA, public health, parks and rec as well as Philadelphia police and fire.
Cleaning up the streets is an investment in the neighborhood and people already doing the work like Rogers.
"Where she conducts her program out of is probably one of the cleanest blocks on Kensington Avenue and that is a result of people trusting her," Lozada said.
That trust Rogers says creates buy in from her neighbors and that buy in creates a community effort to defeat addiction and take back their homes.
"I believe it can happen because I know it can happen because if you see this is the only block here in Kensington that's clean," Rogers said.
Councilmember Lozada says enforcement along with partnering with prevention and recovery programs is the path to redeeming the Kensington neighborhood.