How to Use Green Space as an On-ramp to Economic Opportunity

How to Use Green Space as an On-ramp to Economic Opportunity

Frontline Gig uses green space to connect communities to economic opportunity. Freelance workers who join the app can make quick cash via park cleanups and other green maintenance activities, or by taking part in digital training and career development programs. 

In December, Frontline Gig, along with DC Government partners, TCG Property Care and Design Green, co-hosted a park cleanup and trail-naming event in the Congress Heights neighborhood near the Popeye's on Malcolm X Avenue SE. To start off the morning, Frontliners completed a two hour trash clean-up gig around the trail getting paid to do so for $16 per hour. The gig focused on preparing the section of the trail near the interchange on I-295 and Malcolm X Avenue. In total, six large bags were filled with paper, cups and bottles totalling an estimated 100 pounds! Cleanups like this keep trash from entering precious local waterways, and ultimately, the vast and important Chesapeake Bay.

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Removing trash also helps, of course, to beautify the trail and surrounding landscape, which attendees had the chance to walk on together as a group. They also had the unique opportunity to contribute to  the naming of  the 1.3-mile  of trail! In the weeks prior, Frontline Gig and its partners circulated a poll to collect votes on name suggestions for the trail.  Contributors to the poll included gig workers, nearby apartment residents and local outdoor enthusiasts who live near the trail. The final name for the trail will be determined in early 2023. 

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Gigs to Skills Development

In 2023, Frontline will train gig workers to support more specialized maintenance services, allowing workers to build new skills and earn more. Such training would have allowed gig workers to also support the TCG Property Care in executing and documenting the invasive weeding effort implemented the day before to prepare the site. TCG’s effort cleared more  than 1,000 pounds of vegetation and debris from the site. 

Frontline is powering a new on-demand workforce for green jobs. We make it easy for cities to deploy freelance workers who are available for as little as two hours at a time. By scheduling workers who are available with short lead times, outside of normally scheduled shifts and routes, cities are able to keep their green spaces consistently clean and maintained throughout the day. We believe in offering jobs that are good for communities, their ecosystems, and pay a living wage for this important work. As urban areas decide to spend more resources on protecting their ecosystems, and also face increased threats from climate-change-driven weather extremes, Frontline Gig will be ready to provide a motivated workforce to tackle these challenges.

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