HELENA — There is a new group of people working to keep downtown Helena clean.
Aryka Grove is not a city worker—she is one of a handful of unsheltered community members that volunteered their time Tuesday morning to clean the tunnel by Anchor Park.
“It makes me happy to do kind deeds for people,” Grove said. “It’s what makes me smile.”
Efforts like Tuesday’s cleanup are organized by Our Place, a peer-run support program managed by Good Samaritan Ministries to help people dealing with addiction and behavioral challenges.
Over the past few months, Our Place has organized a number of cleanups to help unsheltered people in the city clean the areas they may be sleeping or staying.
“Our goal isn’t to go out there and throw their stuff away,” Our Place program coordinator Mikayla Kapphan said. “Our goal is to go out there and assist them in packing up.”
Before Our Place started organizing clean ups, the responsibility to help unsheltered people pack and clean up fell to city staff and the police department. Helena Police Departmetn Lt. Jayson Zander said the clean ups organized by Our Place have been a positive step.
“It keeps us as law enforcement not necessarily being the ones putting the hammer down,” Zander said.
Kapphan said the peer-to-peer aspect of the clean up efforts creates a unique and positive environment. She said it also offers an opportunity to connect with unsheltered people and introduce them to the resources Our Place provides.
“I’ve been there, I’ve done that, so what can we do to get you where you need to be?” Kapphan said.
For volunteers like Grove, the experience is also a positive one.
“It makes you go, ‘wow, I did that,’” Grove said. “It makes you feel accomplished.”
Our Place plans to continue cleanups in the city.
