An oversized poster board tracks the deep cleaning happening across Pittsburgh’s Mount Washington neighborhood. All of the yellow highlights denote the streets already adopted.

“We got all the streets on Grandview [Avenue] and we’re still working on a few on Duquesne.”

It’s the brain of Helen Oldfield, who told KDKA-TV that her recent move from the West Coast left something to be desired at first.

“I was very depressed and shocked by the amount of dirt and litter everywhere,” said Oldfield, creator of the Adopt-A-Block program.

She started volunteering for the large cleanups along Grandview Avenue and loved seeing people rappel down the sides to collect the accumulated trash. 

“It’s the iconic street in Pittsburgh. It needs to be clean and look nice, but what about the rest of Mount Washington? When people wandered back through the streets, it was just horrible; it was a mess,” Oldfield said. 

It was from that idea that Oldfield’s Adopt-a-Block program was born. Now she’s more than 60 volunteers deep and trying not to just clean but shift attitudes.

“I think a lot of the mess that accumulates up here on Grandview, unfortunately, is due to groups of young people collecting in the evening and just hanging out,” she said. “And it’s a cool place to hang out, so why not? They come with their motorbikes, and they come with their fast cars, and they drink, and they eat fast food, and then they chuck it all over the edge. I don’t believe the trash is due to any local residents or any visitors or sightseers.”

Volunteers Barbara and Paul Franklin say this is part of their life now.

“We’ve been here about a year, and we moved back to Pittsburgh after being away for 37 years, and we noticed there’s just a lot of trash out there,” Paul Franklin said. 

The couple is now donning yellow safety vests, using an embroidery hoop to keep the trash bags open, and using grabbers to snag cigarette butts, cans, and even gum wrappers.

“When we do McCardle Roadway on Sunday mornings, I feel really good about that,” Barbara Franklin said. 

The volunteers keep on coming, snapping pictures of themselves getting their steps in and making a difference, block by block.

“There is still a long way to go, and we are getting there, and I feel the motivation going here,” said Oldfield.

The Franklins told KDKA-TV that it’s addicting, and now they notice trash everywhere. They hope people will see this story and spread it beyond Mt. Washington.

“We’re proud of this city, we’re proud of this neighborhood, and we want to show it in its best light, and we think we’re helping to do that,” said Paul Franklin.

Oldfield said she hopes to secure some funding to continue supplying her volunteers with much-needed gear. She’s currently receiving some money from the community organization Neighbors on the Mount to purchase the vests and grabbers.

She’s soon applying for grant money in the form of a Neighborhood Economic Development grant and told KDKA-TV that she hopes the city will consider her group for the funds to keep this going. 

The concept behind Street Fries is simple: everyone loves fries. Owner Eric Williams has yet to meet anyone who doesn’t light up at the idea of fried potatoes, especially when they’re fresh-cut and piled with toppings.

“From kids to grandma to anyone between, people can’t wait to have fries every day,” he said.

After launching a Pittsburgh-based food truck in 2021 — “gourmet fries that hit the streets,” as Williams described it — the business is expanding with a South Side storefront. Soft-opened on Wednesday, the new Street Fries location plans to serve both a day and late-night crowd, with a grand opening celebration planned for July 18.

A full menu of loaded fries ($10 to $24) includes the truck’s original offerings, top sellers and newer additions, along with a build-your-own fries option ($5 to $10) with a choice of meats, cheeses and sauces.

Everything on the menu has a story, Williams said. The North Sider, or hibachi fries ($20 to $24), topped with steak, shrimp and melted cheddar, came together on the fly after a customer requested the combination during an Allegheny City Brewing pop-up. Cubby’s Favorite ($14 to $16), spicy garlic Parmesan fries, was inspired by a wings-and-fries shop Williams frequented as a college student at Florida State University.

An original or “big fry” bag ($10 to $15) remains the most popular choice, offering seasoned fresh-cut fries and a choice of one sauce.

Inside the restaurant, a neon-lit mural features the truck’s mascot, Mr. Street Fries, by Pittsburgh artist Camerin “Camo” Nesbit, who also painted the Street Fries food truck.

The anime-inspired, sneaker-wearing mascot “is kind of a resemblance of myself,” Williams said. But over time, he’s come to think of Mr. Street Fries as the one guiding the business, with Williams serving as his right-hand man.

Street Fries began taking shape eight years ago while Williams, 38, served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Albania.

“I’ve always wanted to do something bigger than myself,” he said.

As a homesick volunteer making a modest monthly allowance, he started buying 50-pound bags of potatoes for $10. In the largely agricultural country, locals grew potatoes in their backyards, but had never tried deep-fried, crunchy American-style fries or American seasoning.

“I would just serve fries and season them up differently to try to give them and me something new,” Williams remembered. One day, he made a spice blend of curries, salt and pepper and tossed it on fries. An instant hit, the seasoned fries — which still resemble the “original” on Street Fries’ menu — endeared him to both his hosts and fellow expats and Peace Corps volunteers. Later, as part of his community development work, Williams cooked up chili cheese fries for a Halloween fundraiser, selling out after serving 600 teenagers.

“And I was like, ‘You know what? This should be a business,’” he said. “That’s when I really started to learn — I had a knack for engagement and marketing. I can listen to people and give them what they want.”

Shortly before his 30th birthday, Williams sketched the entire Street Fries concept in chalk across a 20-foot wall — an image he still thinks back on today.

After returning stateside, Williams felt that same guiding force again. A native Pittsburgher who graduated from Woodland Hills High School, Williams went to work for the Pittsburgh Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs. For a couple of years, he did double-duty holding Street Fries pop-ups on off-days and weekends while helping launch the City in the Streets block party program in 2023.

During the truck’s first three years, Williams worked 300 events across the region, including Pittsburgh’s Juneteenth celebration, Harambee Ujima Black Arts and Culture Festival in Homewood, and Bloomfield Little Italy Days. The idea of blending festivals, a food business and community development began to percolate.

Williams said he felt called to keep cooking.

“They loved the fries too much,” he laughed. “And I’m like, ‘How can I let this moment go?’… It felt good trying to build something.”

Though the idea of a permanent storefront was in the works eight months ago, Williams found his biggest stage yet when Street Fries became a food vendor during April’s NFL Draft — one of only 13 locals selected out of hundreds of applications.

Street Fries’ busiest single-day events served about 300 people, but during the Draft, a staff of 20 fed roughly 6,000 on opening day alone, ultimately using 5,000 pounds of potatoes.

“The Draft was the most monumental, huge, frightening thing ever, which you only can say after the fact,” Williams said. “But it was such a great opportunity that (I thought), let’s use this to catapult us even more.”

With the new brick-and-mortar restaurant on the South Side, Williams hopes to continue serving the community and plant even deeper roots. Street Fries is also involved with the new South Side Street Fest and is developing a nonprofit tentatively called Hello Neighbor.

The full name of the business, Williams points out, is Street Fries 4Ever.

“And the idea is to keep it forever,” he said. “I want to make the pot bigger, so more people can eat off the plate.”