Everett mom on a crusade to clean up entire community of used needles



EVERETT, Wash. -- A woman says her North Everett community is overrun by drug addicts and she's fed up.

So now Cate Harrington is volunteering long hours hoping to clean up not just her street but her entire community.

She is a lifelong Everett resident and a mom.

“I start at 6 o clock in the morning,” Harrington said.

An early start to take back her neighborhood.

“My children I can’t take them to neighborhood parks,” Harrington said.

She's worried her kids will step on a used needle, not only in area parks but at schools.

“We were seeing needles laying around under the basketball hoops; there was a needle on a trail,” Harrington said.

She discarded three needles found on school grounds at North Middle last week.

On Wednesday, Q13 FOX News followed along as Cate and several others from the community took to the streets again.

“Trying to have a business and have this kind of stuff around makes people not want to come to this area,” Everett Tattoo Emporium employee Darryl Duncan said.

In one north Everett alley, they quickly spot what they are looking for.

"The inside of a needle, a cap and foil,” Barbara Wheeler said.

They say it's common for drug addicts to break into cars at local dealerships to shoot up.

And on Wednesday they discovered proof of that in a white truck.

“Here is an uncapped needle,” Duncan said.

The problem is so pervasive Cate says the city and cops can't fight it alone.

So she is cleaning up her community one block at a time.

“There are kids playing, two weeks ago that was not happening,” Harrington said.

She's also reaching out to culprits leaving behind the mess.

Handing them a bag of resources to get help.

“It's like almost mission accomplished. I am making people feel secure. I am making people come back into the park,” Harrington said.

Because it’s the summer we are not sure if the district is even aware of the issue at North Middle.

We called them several times but did not hear back as of Wednesday evening.