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ALBUQUERQUE -- An army of mostly homeless people are making Albuquerque a nicer place to live. The city of Albuquerque is in for a facelift as hundreds of people take to the streets to clean them up.
Over the next three weeks or so workers will spread out over the city, picking up anything that doesn't belong.
The unique and integral part about this program is that most of the workers out here are homeless.
The city pays a stipend of about $50 a day, allowing each person to make up to $600.
In 2004, the so-called war on weeds employed close to 3,800 homeless people and removed 600,000 pounds of weeds around the city.
The program has been such a success that the city plans to make the program permanent
July's city budget will include funds to make this program a reality year round.
“In many instances this program made all the difference for someone to get off the streets permanently,” says Laurie linden of St. Martin's hospitality. “To have enough money behind them, to go on and look for jobs elsewhere in the city so they can stay permanently off the street.”
The city is divided into ten different sections, all of which are considered priority areas for weeds.
Over the next three weeks or so workers will spread out over the city, picking up anything that doesn't belong.
The unique and integral part about this program is that most of the workers out here are homeless.
The city pays a stipend of about $50 a day, allowing each person to make up to $600.
In 2004, the so-called war on weeds employed close to 3,800 homeless people and removed 600,000 pounds of weeds around the city.
The program has been such a success that the city plans to make the program permanent
July's city budget will include funds to make this program a reality year round.
“In many instances this program made all the difference for someone to get off the streets permanently,” says Laurie linden of St. Martin's hospitality. “To have enough money behind them, to go on and look for jobs elsewhere in the city so they can stay permanently off the street.”
The city is divided into ten different sections, all of which are considered priority areas for weeds.
Putting homeless people to work.
Perhaps this will convince many of them, or give many of them the oppurtunity, to start a real life and get them off the street.
Or maybe not.
) 
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