What property owners along Kensington Avenue ask us to handle
Kensington is a neighborhood of working families, long-time homeowners, small businesses and churches, and it has carried a heavy share of the opioid crisis for years. Much of what we do here is ordinary property care under unusual pressure. A rowhome owner finds syringes tucked into a front planter. A corner store owner needs a vestibule cleaned before opening. A landlord recovers a unit where someone overdosed. A church wants its steps and side yard checked before services.
The two-story brick rowhomes on the blocks off Kensington Avenue sit close together, with shared walls, small front steps and narrow rear yards or alleys. That layout means sharps can end up in gaps between houses, under steps, in window wells and along back fences. We walk all of those spots, not only the place where someone noticed a needle, and we tell you what we found and where, so you know the real scope of the problem.
Cleanup calls we answer most in Kensington
Cleaning safely after an overdose inside a Kensington home
When an overdose happens indoors, families and landlords face two concerns at once: biological contamination and possible drug residue. Fentanyl and related drugs can leave powder or residue on tables, floors and soft furnishings. We treat those surfaces with care, using layered nitrile gloves, eye protection and respirators, and we never dry sweep, because sweeping can lift fine particles into the air. Instead, we wipe surfaces with damp disposable cloths and bag them as we go.
Fluids are handled like any bloodborne pathogen job under OSHA's standard: contained, removed, packaged and disinfected with the correct dwell time. Mattresses, couches and carpet that absorbed fluids usually can't be saved, while hard floors, walls and fixtures usually can. If the person died, Philadelphia Police and the Medical Examiner's Office will have been involved first, and we begin only after the home is released. We keep the work as discreet as the job allows and treat everyone in the household with respect.
Encampment debris on private lots near the El
Vacant lots, side yards and parking areas near the Market-Frankford Line stations at Somerset, Allegheny and Huntingdon sometimes hold tents, bedding and personal belongings. When the land is private, the owner is responsible for it. We help owners clear those lots after people have moved on and the owner has authorized the work. Moving anyone off a property is a matter for the owner and the city's outreach workers, not for a cleanup crew.
The cleanup itself is careful sorting. Identification, photos and papers are set aside for the owner to decide on. Sharps go into rigid containers. Soiled bedding, human waste and food waste go into sealed bags. Then we disinfect hard surfaces, rake and check the ground for buried syringes, and leave the lot ready for fencing or lighting. For needles on a public sidewalk or a city-owned lot, report them through Philly311 so the city can respond. If someone on your property needs help with addiction or housing, outreach teams working in the neighborhood can meet with them directly.
