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If you see homeless people wheeling carts around downtown Medford, they just might be cleaning up Main Street. Under a pilot project with the homeless advocacy organization Rogue Retreat and the city of Medford, two utility carts will be tooling around the downtown, with homeless people picking up messes, washing windows, sweeping sidewalks and even dealing with stuff nobody wants to get near. “Even the poop,” said Brandi Barnes, case manager for Rogue Retreat. The city has provided up to $5,000 to buy the two carts and supplies, and volunteer homeless people and others who have to do community service will don green reflective vests and get to work for two to three hours in the morning, from Monday to Thursday. The project, which is aimed at giving homeless people an opportunity to give back to the community, should start Sept. 10. Some veterans who have to perform community service also will be part of the program. Downtown Medford merchants have been irked by the messes left behind by some homeless people and have asked the city to do something about the harassment, illegal camping in doorways and other issues. The program should help downtown merchants keep the sidewalks and entryways clean and give homeless residents an opportunity to help the community and get to know the business owners. “We want to kind of change the face of homelessness,” Barnes said. Some of the homeless volunteers will come from Hope Village, a small community in west Medford made up of 14 tiny houses, with another 16 scheduled to be built in the near future. No one will be forced to volunteer for the program, but those from Hope Village or other residences operated by Rogue Retreat who break the rules might be required to give two hours for community service. Typically, two or three volunteers will man a cart, and a supervisor from Rogue Retreat will monitor their progress. While the volunteers are roaming downtown streets, they will pass out brochures to other homeless people encouraging them to seek help. “Who better to do outreach than the homeless themselves,” Barnes said. If the volunteers notice a window or door needs cleaning, they will offer to take care of it for a business owner. “We want to be a presence down here, but we don’t want to be in the way,” said Liz Adams of Rogue Retreat. Adams said the two carts and supplies have cost only about $1,000. “Overall the cost has been minimal,” she said. In the future, Rogue Retreat may seek a community sponsor to start a program where the people who clean the streets get paid, which would be another way to help ease them back into becoming productive members of society, Adams said. The volunteers will wheel their carts up and down Main Street, as well as many other side streets in the downtown, including alleys. The carts and supplies will be stored in either the Carnegie Building on Main Street or the Middleford parking garage. Councilor Mike Zarosinski said, “We’ve got all kinds of feedback, mostly negative, about the impacts of the homeless. Can we flip it around?” He said $5,000 is a relatively low investment to see whether it can make a big impact on the downtown and potentially help some homeless people get back into the community. He said other cities such as San Antonio have tried similar programs. “This only works for those trying to make a change in their lives,” Zarosinski said. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 541-776-4476 or [email protected] . Follow him @ reporterdm .