Dinwiddie resident tackles unemployment, littering
“We decided to pay the homeless people, as most of them are going through a difficult time and we wanted to assist them by offering them work.”
Even in difficult times where service delivery seems like a dream, residents still find ways to keep the neighbourhood clean.
Dinwiddie resident John Trott is trying to find ways to solve two challenges: a recent increase in homeless people occupying open spaces and littering.
John decided to work with the homeless by offering them an opportunity to clean up the area.
“I started noticing people occupying land by the Bethel church on Studland Avenue in Dinwiddie. They spend their days doing nothing and in most cases, they end up begging at the traffic lights.
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“I started looking at options of how I could get them working instead of doing nothing,” said John.
He said with the help of a donor, who would like to remain anonymous, he decided to pay the homeless people to start cleaning the area.
“It may not be much, but it makes some difference in their lives as they can feed themselves,” said John.
They said they need assistance in funding from residents and local companies.
“Any donation is welcome. It may be cleaning equipment or paying the workers. It will make a difference.
“We are not formally registered. We are just two residents who are trying to keep out bad elements in our neighbourhood,” said John.
Keeping the neighbourhood clean is what inspired them to do this.
“Crime attracts crime and undesirable elements. Through this project, we are trying to keep those elements out of the area.
“We want to address the unemployment rate in our country because at some point we need to take a stand and make a difference ourselves. After all, the government is not able to reach everyone,” said John.
He said what is disappointing and challenging is that some residents and leadership in the area do not support the cause.
“Very few still care about their area, but we hope we can get more residents to support the cause,” said John.
He said through this initiative they hope to encourage others to give work to the homeless who are willing to work.
“We can all make a difference. Most of the time, people think homeless people are criminals and they don’t want to work.
“But you have those who are willing to work so people can pick up the homeless and take them to do work for the day.
“If they are not comfortable hiring them, you can donate to our cause or get in touch with us. Residents can come with us to see what we do and see how they can assist our initiative,” said John.
The group is also asking for a donation of old bricks to build a wall next to the railway.
Contact the newsroom by emailing: Marietta Lombard (Editor) germistoncitynews@caxton.co.za, or (Journalists) Busi Vilakazi busiv@caxton.co.za
