SAN JOSE, Calif.—Homeless people living along this city’s waterways will soon be carrying debit cards.
The nonprofit mutual water company, Valley Water, is handing out the plastic to homeless people who keep their camps tidy, and also pick up trash, according to KRON4, which said the move is a response to the growing problem of homeless encampments entrenched along waterways in San Jose that are polluting rivers, creeks, and streams with trash and biowaste.
The project is called the Clean Camps, Clean Creeks Program.
According to the report, to help fund these efforts, Valley Water was recently awarded a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency providing approximately $2.2 million to perform cleanups and provide portable toilets on heavily impacted creeks. The grant also provides about $900,000 to address encampment-generated environmental impacts on Coyote Creek in San Jose.
Between July 2022-June 2023, Valley Water’s cleanup crews removed more than 2.7 million pounds of trash, debris, and hazardous pollutants generated from unsheltered people along Santa Clara County’s waterways, KRON 4 reported.
Ways to Earn Cards
Valley Water is now providing the debit cards to homeless people who “maintain tidy camp areas free of trash.” Unsheltered residents can also earn debit cards by collecting and bagging anyone’s trash found on land managed by Valley Water, KRON 4 said.
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