Members of the homeless community were cleaning up among the reeds, recovering what they could on March 6.
They admitted that their own belongings were a large part of what littered the weeds after recent flooding, but they also weren’t discriminating and were trying to clean as much as they could.
“The reeds are like fingers, grabbing everything up,” Danny Engle said.
Piles of sorted plastic and glass grew outside the edge of the river, and the Lucero Group-Vanguard Properties had donated bags and gloves to gather trash. Park Ranger assistants had also been out, too, they said.
During the flooding, the homeless community that was staying at low-lying banks along the river by the railroad bridge had to quickly move to higher ground to escape the rising water.
One man said he had to drag his tent through waist-high water to get out. As the rush happened, many things were left behind.
On March 7, Justin Olson said that a landscaping company started helping haul away the trash, but added that anyone who wanted to help would be appreciated.
The issue of where to dump the trash had been the most pressing concern as they cleaned. Olson said they had been making their way up the hill and over the railroad bridge at first, leaving the bags at a spot convenient enough for other volunteers to grab.
The construction bags when loaded can be fairly heavy and the bridge crossing was tiring.
In addition to rebuilding their own lives and doing what they said was their part to help the fragile river ecosystem, the community also hoped to repair relationships with area businesses.
According to Olson, there had been opportunity to wash up or charge a phone at local businesses but due to some poor interactions of others recently, those offers had been taken away.
Once everything is cleaned, the community said they hoped the rest of town would be able to use the riverfront as a nice family spot to enjoy the rapidly approaching warm weather.
