MEMPHIS, Tenn. — When it comes to cleaning up the streets of Orange Mound, one particular group stands out. You may have even seen them with their orange trash bags picking up litter.

Warren Swift is not an unfamiliar face in the streets of Orange Mound. That’s usually where you can find him. Most Saturday mornings, he’s on the streets of Orange Mound working to keep them clean.

“When you turn on the news, everybody says it’s too much litter and blight in Orange Mound. So, we’re thinking we just want to switch it over,” Warren said.

Warren has dedicated his life to improving the neighborhood that raised him. 

He is the captain of the Orange Mound Blight Patrol and a member of the organization Guns Down in Orange Mound.

His work cleaning the community and advocating for the end of gun violence has gotten the respect of his neighbors and city officials.

However, Warren says his life could’ve gone in a completely different direction. 

“I came up from nothing,” he said. “My parents got killed when I was two years old. So, I was in foster care. Didn’t know where I was going to get my last meal from.”

Despite his circumstances, Warren continued looking forward and leaning on the guidance of those around him. 

“They keep me going. So, I don’t look to the streets, but I see all my other friends in jail right now. I didn’t want to go down that wrong path,” he said.

Warren says he wants to inspire the younger generation not to be bound by the hardships they may face and to be the change they want to see.

<“It starts at home. If you ain’t got no parents, find a role model,” he said. “It’s too many churches out here and too many pastors out here that kids can’t pull on and hold on to and guide and lead to.”

Warren says the Orange Mound Blight Patrol‘s work is ongoing. He says they plan on having another community cleanup on Aug. 9.