There’s a program in Fort Worth that picks away at the city’s litter problem, and it’s getting a big boost.

This week, city council members approved to increase the city’s contract with Presbytarian Night Shelter’s UpSpire litter abatement program by $1.8 million.

“What we are doing, though it may not be glamorous, though it may not, you know, get a lot of recognition, what we are doing is providing a resource to our city that makes Fort Worth a great place to live,” said Daryl Davis, vice president of workforce and career development at UpSpire.

The city first entered into a contract with the organization in 2022, according to the city documents.

“We have 13 crews every day that go out, cover highways, neighborhood improvement districts, as well as just citywide litter routes,” Davis said.

The need is growing. For example, Davis said right now, they have to pull some of their city crews to address illegal camp sites.

With the increased contract, they can create new teams specifically dedicated to those areas.

According to city documents, UpSpire currently has 11 city-focused crews and two TxDOT highway cleanup crews. The contract expansion will add five crews focused on illegal camping and debris cleanup, and could add up to five more crews to help with special events and pilot projects.

It not only means less litter, but also more jobs.

“Many of our workers started out as guests of Presbyterian night shelter, or any of our other homeless shelters here in the city of Fort Worth,” Davis said.

He said UpSpire provides full-time jobs to those folks, plus people who are currently unhoused or are trying to get back into society after jail.

“We want to remove those barriers to employment because we understand what continues to keep some people in an unsheltered state is the fact that they don’t have sustainable income and UpSpire provides that,” Davis said.

Providing a resource to Fort Worth, in more ways than one.

“Just with sustainable income that many of our employees– or that all of our employees receive from here, they’re able to transform their lives,” Davis said.