Utah Cleaning Company Provides Jobs for its Underserved Community

A company in Utah that provides cleaning services for the home of the NBA’s Utah Jazz is also helping to support underserved individuals within the community, KUTV reports.

According to the article and its accompanying video, Utah-based Forte Commercial Cleaners, in an effort to be more inclusive, has offered positions on its crew that provides after-event cleanup at Salt Lake City’s Delta Center, home court of the Jazz, to many people in need, including to those without housing.

One of those people is Joy Najera. According to KUTV, 64-year-old Najera came to Utah from Michigan without a job nor a place to live. Forte not only hired her as a custodian, but also helped her furnish her new place when she secured an apartment.

“People don’t want to hire you if they know you’re homeless…and you don’t have nowhere to shower,” Najera told KUTV.

The tasks of the cleaning crew, including sweeping, mopping, and picking up trash, can take up to five hours after an event at the arena, KUTV reports. But Najera, who started working for Forte six years ago and has been living in her apartment now for a year and a half, admits that she’d probably be “somewhere doing drugs,” without the work opportunity and the company’s support.

Forte business partner Jason Davis told KUTV, “We like to be…inclusive in our hiring, non-judgmental, and just give opportunities to people to work.”

“Some of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen come from the shelters,” said Natalie Laldorano, a co-worker who also was helped when her family first came to the U.S. in 2001 and suffered from housing insecurity upon their arrival. “Once they see that opportunity is available and it’s time to turn the page, I think they just completely change their outlook on life.”