Arkansas has been paying homeless people $9.25 an hour — two bucks more than the federal minimum wage — to pick up trash around its state capital.
And the program in Little Rock, dubbed Bridge to Work, has been so successful since it began in April that the city’s mayor, Frank Scott Jr., is planning to extend it an additional year, according to 12 News Now.
“We’re super excited about what has gone on, and we hope to be able to keep the momentum going,” said associate pastor Paul Atkins of the Canvas Community Church, which runs the program, the news outlet reported.
“We want to work with them on their next step,” Atkins said during a board meeting last month. “There are a lot of barriers that our people experience to go from homelessness and panhandling to full-time work. There’s a lot of steps in between.”
The Bridge to Work program originally was planned to last just six months but will be extended to go through the end of September 2020, according to the site.
According to Atkins, 380 people joined the work crews, with some joining more than once.
A total of 130 sites have been cleaned, 2,056 bags filled with trash and 1,821 hours worked since the program started, the news outlet reported.
Arkansas increased the state’s minimum wage to $9.25 an hour this year.
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