Shaw Main Streets’ success is dependent on the energy and work of our volunteers.
Shaw Clean + Safe Team
The Shaw Clean + Safe Team was launched in 2006 with funding from the District government’s Neighborhood Investment Fund. Shaw Main Streets partnered with the Columbia Heights/Shaw Family Support Collaborative to create the Green Team, which collected trash, abated graffiti, provided directions to pedestrians, and served as ‘eyes and ears’ on the street five days per week. Funding later came from the Department of Public Works (DPW) BID Litter Assistance Program to expand the service to seven days per week, and added planting and watering treeboxes. The late Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham authored legislation and pressed for funding for this important initiative when it was going to be unfunded during the 2008 World Financial Crisis.
Today’s Shaw Clean + Safe Team is one of over 40 commercial corridor clean and safe teams operating in Washington, DC neighborhoods, funded in part by the Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD). In FY2022, the DSLBD Clean Team Grant provided to Shaw Main Streets is $122,112.64, which covers wages and fringe benefits for crew and supervisors ($118,832.64), and some equipment ($1,479.00).
The overall operating budget for the Shaw Team exceeds $130,000 annually. Unreimbursed costs include expenses related to the team’s 2006 Ford F-150 pickup truck (including fuel, maintenance, insurance and registration) and some other equipment and supplies (including mulch, ice melt, trash bags, and uniforms). Commercial general liability, automobile liability, workers’ compensation, employer’s liability, cyber liability insurance are required.
Costs not covered by the grant are paid from Planned Unit Development (PUD) funds from development projects in the neighborhood (including City Market at O, Jefferson Marketplace and Perla). Developers also provide in-kind services, such as parking for the pickup truck and storage space. It should be noted that unlike most Clean Team grantees, Shaw Main Streets does not charge an administrative percentage against the grant, so that 100% of the grant can be used to provide services. This has been Shaw Main Streets’ practice since 2006.
Shaw Main Streets contracts with Career Path DC, a nonprofit partner that hires, trains and manages the team members that serve the Shaw service area. Services provided in the Shaw area include removal of trash and debris from sidewalks, gutters and treeboxes, removal of trash from Department of Public Works receptacles and transportation of said trash to transfer stations, collection and transportation of recyclables to a transfer station, remediation of graffiti less than eight feet off the ground, illegal poster and sticker removal, weeding and mulching treeboxes, mowing grass, snow and ice removal, and public space defect reporting.
The Shaw Clean + Safe Team operates seven days per week, except on District of Columbia holidays. All team members are DC residents and returning citizens (ex-offenders). There are two full time crew members and one part time crew member working each day, as well as one part time supervisor, during the following hours: Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. On Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, the crew works from 8:30 AM to 12:30 PM. Service hours were originally full time daily, but had to be reduced due to increased costs and no additional funding being available. Crew members receive a living wage, plus benefits.
The Shaw Main Streets and Shaw Clean + Safe Team service areas do not match because the Clean Team grants were not increased when the Shaw Main Streets service boundaries were expanded, to the east to 6th Street and to the west to 11th Street.
The area served by the Shaw Clean + Safe Team is as follows: The east side of 7th Street and the west side of 9th Street, between Mount Vernon Square and N Street; both sides of 7th and 9th Streets, NW, between N Street and Florida Avenue, NW; the north side of the 600 block of New York Avenue, NW; the 600 blocks of Florida Avenue and T Street, NW; the 900 block of U Street, NW, and the 2000 block of Florida Avenue, NW. The 1000-1200 blocks of the west side of 7th Street and the east side of 9th Street are not included, as they are serviced by the Downtown Business Improvement District. Team members conduct at least one pass per block per day.
In FY2021, the Shaw Clean + Safe Team removed 189,200 pounds of trash from Shaw’s streets, removed 1,942 graffiti tags and removed 2,077 posters and stickers in the Shaw service area.
In FY2023, both sides of 11th Street, NW between Massachusetts Avenue and S Streets will be added to the Shaw Clean + Safe Team’s service area, thanks to single-year funding included in the FY2023 budget under the leadership of Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto. Councilmember Pinto has indicated that she hopes to obtain permanent funding for this service expansion in the next budget cycle.
When you see these hard-working men and women on the street, be sure to thank them for their efforts to keep Shaw beautiful.