Darryl Kiseyinewakup is one of 11 street cleaners hired by the Prince George Brain Injured Group

By Tommy Osborne

Street Cleaning Team

Prince George Brain Injured Group employment “lifechanging” for cleaners

Mar 18, 2026 | 5:44 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – You’ve likely seen the downtown or Gateway street cleaning teams out and about, keeping our streets clean rain or shine. But have you ever thought about who employs them, or the story behind them? If not, you’re probably not alone, and the Prince George Brain Injured Group (PGBIG) explains their job is about a lot more than just keeping the city clean.

“The clean teams are made up of our community individuals who are facing various barriers, capacity and capabilities, and marginalized, vulnerable and disabled people, and give them realistic employment opportunities after brain injury,” said PGBIG Executive Director Sarah McCrea.

“Our employment program is one of the only ones in the province that specializes in brain injury,” she added.

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Eight people are employed for the downtown clean team, and three work for the Gateway clean team, with McCrea explaining these are funded through federal government grants and the Gateway Business Improvement Area Society respectively. These teams have been working for 15 years, and McCrea says meaningful employment like this is incredibly beneficial for the employees who may otherwise have troubles finding work.

“Individuals with various circumstances of brain injury, especially in our realm, they are overlooked in the realm of realistic employment after injury, and this gives them an opportunity to work on those skills, have a chance at that level of rehabilitation and be able to have purpose and value and give back to their community again,” McCrea said.

The employees say they really enjoy the opportunity, as it keeps them engaged in the community and helps them be self-sufficient.

“My pride, cleaning the streets, finance and the ability to pay my bills,” said Downtown Street Clean Team employee Darryl Kiseyinewakup, listing several things he enjoys about the job.

“I do lots of work and help the community, and people say ‘hi’ and ‘thank you’ and ‘you’re doing a good job’,” added Gateway Street Clean Team employee Michael Hernaczky.

McCrea says the employment not only provides employees with a stable paycheque, it also gets the workers further involved with the PGBIG’s larger support system. She says more than 50% of homeless people have brain injuries, so keeping these people supported through things like the clean team are incredibly important for both their, and the community’s, health.

“It’s life changing. Every person on those teams has experienced such progress and stability in their lives after being part of the clean teams,” McCrea said.

“(It helps me) stay out of trouble, gets me healthy, I make better choices,” Kiseyinewakup said.

As for what constitutes the PGBIG’s clientele, McCrea explains it focuses specially on acquired brain injury.

“It could be trauma, stroke, anoxia, tumor surgery, toxicity, and due to the Lakeland Mills explosions, we actually encompassed explosions injuries into that as well,” she said.

Hernaczky says he always enjoys being out in the community and seeing people, so if you see the street clean team out and about he encourages you to say hi.