PHOENIX — One man has dedicated himself to cleaning different areas of Peoria and he's hoping to expand his passion to other areas of the Valley.
Joshua Rogers, 38, said his cleaning efforts started a year ago when he cleaned up the area of a Walgreens, noting he felt "called" to continue his efforts across the city.
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"I just love the way it looks afterwards [with] all the bags lined up. It's an accomplishment," Rogers said. "It's just an enormous feeling. It really is. Putting in service is a good thing to do, putting in God's work."
Rogers said he moved here from Colorado and has been living on the streets for more than a year.
"All I can say, is 'love thy neighbor, you know?' The way they look at the homeless, the way they look at people here in Arizona,[is] horrible," Rogers said. "I'm trying to show people too, don't judge a person by the way they look."
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Rogers said he has strong work ethic and he is capable of doing the work of four people with his energy.
Rogers has set up a GoFundMe in hopes of turning his mission to beautify the city into a non-profit organization called One Man One Rake.
"I can make a deep cleaning type of nonprofit where I go and I deep clean the streets," Rogers said. "And then, buy me a little truck and trailer so I can get off the streets, and I don't have to sleep on the streets."
Throughout the past year, Rogers has shared his clean-up efforts online and said he's received positive responses from neighbors and businesses.
Cameron Cordero, an employee at Frenchies Pizza in Peoria, said his father who owns the business reached out to Rogers after seeing his cleanup efforts.
"[My dad] recommended this spot to him just because it hasn't been touched up in a really long time. As far as I know, it hasn't been touched in years," Cordero said. "He offered him free drinks and free pizza as long as he's here."
Joshua Zettler, owner of J&R Junk Removal, said he grew up in Peoria and was impressed by Roger's work.
"It's inspirational. My mind was blown," Zettler said. "It's hard to find people who work hard and do things like this and not only was he doing it, but he was doing it for free out of the kindness of his own heart."
Since then, Zettler said he's helped provide trash bags, some supplies and offered to pick up the trash bags Rogers has finished.
"Everybody's gotta work together to keep [the city] looking good," Zettler said.
Zettler said he wished he had enough work to hire Rogers, but instead is offering to donate a portion of proceeds to Roger's mission One Man One Rake to whoever mentions his name.
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