(CNN) The homeless men and women step off the van and get straight to work. They pick up trash and bottles, and as they do, business owners and residents cheer them on -- honking, clapping and even handing out refreshments.

It's part of a pilot program in San Diego that hires homeless people to help clean up the city's streets. And it was started by a 16 year-old boy: Kevin Barber.

Barber got the idea from a TED Talk video showcasing a similar program in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that invited panhandlers to clean local streets in exchange for fair wages and access to city services.

"It just looked really simple, and the statistics were staggering," the high school junior told CNN.

The inaugural "Wheels of Change" crew.

Cities across the country are using programs like the one in Albuquerque to provide hundreds of part-time jobs to the homeless. Barber wanted to implement one in San Diego, which hosts the country's fourth-largest homeless population.

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