COLUMBUS, Ohio — Cleaning the streets of Linden five days a week, Brian Reed has a passion for keeping his community clean and leads by example so others can as well. 

“We would like to cover as much ground as possible,” said Reed, site supervisor for the Center for Employment Opportunities. 

What You Need To Know

  • It's Public Safety Week in the Columbus neighborhood of Linden

  • The goal of the week is to connect Linden residents with the Columbus Division of Police and Columbus Division of Fire and expose them to safety resources 

  • Brian Reed, with the Center for Employment Opportunities, is keeping the Linden community safe by keeping it clean

“It’s important for me to help give back and to contribute to keeping the community clean. I find a desire and a passion to orchestrate and be innovative with our line of work. And this right here is a way to show others that, you know, this can be done,” said Reed.

Reed supervises the Cleveland Avenue cleanup, including six men every morning as part of the Center for Employment Opportunities, also known as CEO. It’s a reentry program designed to reduce recidivism by providing positive work opportunities in the community. 

“This gives the individual the opportunity as well to give back to the community. That’s what, you know, (the) Center for Employment Opportunities is about. Reentry and our services, you know, go a long way,” said Reed. 

As the neighborhood celebrates Public Safety Week, leaders said it’s programs like this one that help promote a safe community. Aryeh Alex, executive director of Keep Columbus Beautiful, said clean communities and public safety go hand in hand because a clean community means its residents take pride in their city. 

“So there’s more pride and more commitment and investment from that community to maintain that. And that actually helps reduce crime, because when neighbors are talking to one another or neighbors are walking down the street and see something, they can say something and they can meet each other and build that network. And that neighborhood,” said Alex.

Both Reed and Alex believe residents coming together to clean up communities inevitably create safer communities because of the sheer motivation to do better for your neighbor. 

“For the most part, it is, you know, designed to just create the right energy, you know, day to day and, you know, motivate others who are willing to be, you know, a part of something great,” said Reed.