Bay Area Nonprofit’s Path to Public Safety: Painting Murals and Picking Up Trash

Oakland group employs the homeless and ex-criminals to battle neighborhood deterioration. One worker says it’s ’teaching us motivation.'

Ken Houston (C) director of the Beautification Council, gathers with some of his crew before they head out to clean Oakland streets on May 2, 2024. Travis Gillmore/The Epoch Times

A Bay Area nonprofit sees community cleanup as a path to improved public safety, and it’s employing homeless people and former criminals to get the job done.

Led by Ken Houston, better known to locals as the “Son of Oakland,” the Beautification Council was started in 2012 to protect residents and lead by example.