Urban Alchemy Practitioners have been turning the San Francisco Clean program since 2015. When we arrived on the scene, the Tenderloin faced an unmanageable problem with littering.

We collaborated with everyone from the homeless to local business owners to unite the community and clean up the area. In our experience, cleaning is one of the first tasks that must be accomplished to transform these streets into a safe and inviting space. Too often, the stench of urine, rotting food and used needles becomes the norm in these communities. We’re passionate about cleaning dense urban areas where children and vulnerable people live.

In a one month period, our Practitioners collected 2,973 needles and 2,089 bags of trash. We handled 113 reports of feces and scrubbed 17 graffiti murals. Our motto when cleaning the Tenderloin was “not even a cigarette butt left behind”.