WORCESTER, Mass. — A small but dedicated crew in Worcester has this mission: to make sure neighborhoods aren’t only safe but are also welcoming and thriving.
They’re called the “Quality of Life” team.
Dan Cahill, the director of the team, drives thru Worcester keeping a keen eye for improperly disposed trash on city streets.
He found a Target shopping cart that had been dumped in a neighborhood far from the store.
He loaded it onto his truck and brought it back to the store.
While looking for debris, his workers found a discarded hypodermic along a popular trail.
“People walk thru here all the time,” said Cahill. “If a kid goes by and gets curious and grabs, you don’t want that.”
What Cahill really wants is a clean city that makes everyone proud.
“We’re kind of a catch-all. We do a little of everything and have many enforcement powers.”
The team has representatives from inspectional services, public works, and police.
“We handle illegal dumping, trash on private property, vacant and unsecured properties.”
The various officers come upon some infractions as part of their patrols.
Other tips come thru the city’s 3-1-1 line.
“If we don’t address it fairly quickly, it can obviously grow. We don’t want that, obviously. I think it’s important to make sure that residents and business owners alike have a clean city to live in,” added Cahill.
A surging homeless population also keeps the team busy these days.
He took Boston 25 News to a location that’s known to have unsheltered people staying on the property.
“If they are, we can certainly offer them some assistance.”
On this snowy morning, the team treks thru the woods to the encampment to see if anyone is in distress.
The site was deserted but was littered will all kinds of debris.
At a local McDonald’s, the team found a group of unhoused people huddled in the cold.
Cahill said “We are the ones who try to get here and at least triage the situation, and see what’s going on and then try to get the proper services in place for them.”
In the parking lot as they waited for human services to arrive, Cahill had a chance meeting with Derek Oakes.
“I was actually homeless two years ago and I ran into Quality of Life, and they gave me a chance on giving me a place to live, so it’s been successful. I’ve been there a year now, I just got my lease renewed. thanks again to the Quality of Life.
Oakes added, “Yea, they saved my life. Yea they did. They did.”
When Cahill hears something like that, it confirms the work of his team is well worth it.
“This is my probably my proudest moment, to be involved with something like this, and it takes a different person to do this, but you know we’re out here and we’re trying to make a difference in the community.”
In addition to all the patrols, Cahill said a lot of the team’s work is educating residents on how to properly dispose of items like mattresses and old TVs, so they don’t get left out on the street.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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