Job Empowerment Program: Paid Work, Cleaner Streets

Every week, guests at the Homeless Resource Center put on HRC vests and go to work cleaning up downtown Lawrence. They pick up trash along Mass Street, Kentucky Street, the library, local churches, and the bus stops around our day center. And they get paid for it.

That's the Job Empowerment Program.

GOOD FOR OUR GUESTS

Guests earn $10 an hour. That money helps cover things like a phone bill, a prescription, or the cost of replacing an ID. Just as important, the work builds confidence. Guests who succeed in the program can put it on their resume and earn an employment reference from HRC as they move toward additional job training programs and long-term, sustainable careers. About 40 people have worked in the program so far, more ask for shifts every week, and some have moved on to jobs with local businesses.

GOOD FOR OUR COMMUNITY

We started this program in 2023 because some of our downtown neighbors were frustrated, and we heard them. We can be the best homeless services agency in the world, but if our neighbors hate us, we have failed. So our guests started taking care of the blocks around us. Within about a year, the complaints that used to come in every week stopped. In 2025 alone, guests put in about 1,500 hours of cleanup.

YOUR GIFT STAYS IN THIS PROGRAM

Every dollar given through this page goes directly to the Job Empowerment Program. Not general operations. Not overhead. Just wages for guests doing good work in our community.

$10 = 1 hour of paid work

$50 = 5 hours of paid work

$100 = 10 hours of paid work

Thank you for helping our guests earn, and helping Lawrence shine.