Plans to Help Homeless with Their Cleanup Being Worked Out
Chillicothe — The annual cleanup of the Scioto riverbank started the day off for Chillicothe’s “Earth Gathering” art festival. The coordinator for the effort also gave an update on her offer to coordinate trash cleanup with local homeless.
Amy Fitton, homeless advocate (and local state park naturalist), explained the waterway cleanup and its history, as volunteers started to arrive about 9:00 this morning.
She said she had moved to the area in 1997 and wanted to to do something for Earth Day. The cleanup became an accompaniment to the Earth Gathering, coordinated by Shelley Pocock (see related story).
Depending on capricious Ohio spring weather and water levels, Fitton said they get about 20 to 100 volunteers who fill maybe 45-60 trash bags from the south bank of the Scioto, between the US 35 freeway bridge and the Bridge Street bridge.
I also asked Fitton about her offer to to organize quarterly cleanups of homeless camps, which she announced at Chillicothe Council on February 24th. Council has been discussing a revision of city code that prohibits camping on city land, partly in response to complaints about trash accumulating at the camps.
Fitton said her idea has changed because the homeless want to be part of their own cleanup. A quarterly cleanup may still happen, but she says homeless advocates are partnering with the unhoused and working with the city to create collection points where they can dump their trash. When camps are near the river, Fitton says she can work to clean up what might be left behind.
She says to learn more or volunteer, contact her or Community Action. Fitton says there is also a “Continuum of Care” meeting each month that guides the effort.
Hear Fitton in her own words in the below video interview.
