You may have seen them as you drove by last week, volunteers in orange vests, working along Venice Blvd. and Grand View, and in the alley behind the Venice shops. They were there as part of a program run by Chrysalis, sweeping up trash and leaves, weeding along sidewalks, emptying and relining trash cans, removing small graffiti stickers and posters, and generally making the area shine.

Chrysalis is a non-profit agency dedicated to helping people out of homelessness and poverty to make changes in their lives through employment. Rick Stoff, Director of Business Partnerships for Chrysalis, initiated the clean-up effort with local business owners. “The clean-up jobs we provide not only keep our neighborhoods looking beautiful, they also allow the workers to gain valuable work experience and become self-sufficient,” said Stoff. I saw Michael Dotson and Edward Gonzales working near the post office. Byron Ellison, Joann Anderson and Bessie Lucas were working near the Yum Yum Donut shop. I’m so grateful to them for the work they did. It made a difference here and Mar Vista’s lucky they came.