More and more volunteers are joining the Hollywood Village team.

Momentum is building for the Hollywood Village campaign to make Hollywood a safer and cleaner place to live and work.

The September 2019 Hollywood Village Cleanup saw 120 volunteers put in 360 volunteer hours, collect up 13 used syringes and 150 bags of trash weighing 3,100 pounds (yes—we weighed it!) for a 100 percent successful morning’s activity to make Hollywood a cleaner, safer place to work and live.

“There’s a lot of people that want to work. You’ve got to give them a chance. You’ve got to open up the door somewhere.”

As in so many other cities and neighborhoods, homelessness is a major problem in Hollywood, and one of the basic purposes of Hollywood Village is to help the homeless get back on their feet. This month, volunteers had two reasons to celebrate the momentum the campaign is generating to forward this purpose.

The first has to do with Greg.

Greg was a gang member from the time he was 13. He spent more than half his life in prison. Back out at 60 earlier this year, he’s been living on the streets of Hollywood, trying to get by, recycling bottles and cans he collects and selling soda and water on Hollywood Boulevard. 

He connected with Hollywood Village several weeks ago because, although homeless, he always keeps the area around him clean and encourages other homeless people to do so too. He believes setting up a job corps that makes it possible for the homeless to earn a living by cleaning up the city, parks and beaches would go a long way to solving the homeless problem. “There’s a lot of people that want to work,” he says. “You’ve got to give them a chance. You’ve got to open up the door somewhere.”

Then two extraordinary opportunities arose when people in the community learned about Greg through Hollywood Village social media. A business executive decided to offer Greg a job, paying him a working wage for cleaning up the neighborhood. And a halfway house director presented Greg with the key to room of his own. Several local businesses and neighbors chipped in to cover the down payment and provide him new clothes.

Other community members are joining in the Hollywood Village campaign too. This month, an entrepreneur launched “Cash for Trash.” Those living on the streets were invited to help collect trash and bring it to a weigh station in Hollywood where they exchanged their trash for money. Just as Greg predicted, many homeless took part in the project. It was so successful that Cash for Trash will be part of the monthly Hollywood Village Cleanup going forward. 

Special thanks go to Hollywood Village partners and supporters, who provide supplies, coffee, breakfast and lunch for the volunteers, and make the monthly cleanup a successful, expanding initiative: Lloyd Princeton at Design Management Company, Al-Wazir Chicken in Hollywood, Snacknation, La Poubelle Bistro in Franklin Village, Renaissance Restaurant, Dre’s BBQ, Kettle Glazed Donuts, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in Hollywood, Tang’s Donuts, Original Tommy’s World Famous Hamburgers, Beacon of Hope Los Angeles, Tailwaggers, Garbograbbers, Home Depot, Southern California NFL Alumni, Shelter 37, Republican National Hispanics of California, L.A. Department of Sanitation, Boy Scouts of America Troop 8, Cub Scouts of America Troop 88, and the LAPD Hollywood Division.

Hollywood Village is a community coalition of people of all faiths, ideologies, political preferences and backgrounds, working together to make Hollywood beautiful, safe and clean. 
Anyone wishing to take part in the next Hollywood Village Cleanup is invited to join the team Saturday, October 19, at the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre, 5930 Bronson Avenue at 9 a.m.