Kevin Sofen never expected to be the “dog poop guy” of his neighborhood. But as the founder of Scoop the Poop — an initiative aiming to clean dog poop off the streets of Wicker Park — he said his selfless and sometimes smelly work is worth it to “make our community somewhere that we like to live.”

Sofen, an instructor in DePaul’s business school, started Scoop the Poop in March, having grown angry about seeing “dog poop everywhere.”

Looking to raise awareness of the issue, Sofen centered his initiative around installing poop bag dispensers and signs with tag lines like “There’s no such thing as the dog poop fairy” on residential properties.

“In the world, there’s a lot of unsolvable issues with a lot of different political strife on both sides,” Sofen said. “I look at this as a very solvable issue in our community.”

Though he has now installed 28 dispensers and 50 signs around the Wicker Park area, Sofen said his success started with one simple video.

After stepping in a pile of dog poop, Sofen said he spent hours one day cleaning his entire street — an act which he filmed and posted to social media, where it went “mini viral,” gathering thousands of views, likes and comments.

“I was like, ‘This kind of struck a chord — there’s something here that’s bigger than me,’” Sofen said.

Realizing his efforts weren’t “sustainable,” Sofen sought a solution that allowed him to “tap into the community” of fellow residents who shared his concerns.

“I just thought, ‘How could I create a system that enables other people to help other people pick up dog poop?’” Sofen said.

After lots of research, Sofen said he began ordering dispensers, designing signs and reaching out to neighborhood residents to ask if they’d be willing to participate in his initiative.

Inspired by the success of his initial post, Sofen continues to utilize social media to promote his initiative. He still posts videos about his work on Instagram, where he advertises a volunteer form residents can fill out to have a dispenser and sign installed. While Sofen has largely self-funded the effort, residents can contribute through a donation form.

Bucktown resident Marisa Zona signed up to have two dispensers installed at her house after reading about Scoop the Poop online. She said she had been frustrated with residents failing to pick up after their dogs “for years” before contacting Sofen.

“There wasn’t a day that went by without multiple poop droppings up and down the parkway,” Zona said.

Beyond her desire for the “beautification” of her block, Zona said she was motivated to participate due to her concern over dog poop’s association with increases in the population of rats, prevalence of flies and spread of disease — a “public health risk” which Sofen hopes to minimize with his work.

“I can’t remember the last time I saw poop on a parkway now,” Zona said. “It’s really encouraging when you’re having a frustrating neighborhood experience to then have it counterbalanced with something so positive.”

Zona said that she “can’t give him enough credit” for his dedication to cleaning up the neighborhood on a volunteer basis, despite having a full-time job and a full-size family.

“When I first met Kevin, he came walking across the street, dog in hand with a wife and newborn baby,” Zona said. “They were smiling, so happy to talk about this, so excited to be involved in it.”

Sofen said his commitment to his work is largely inspired by his desire to set a positive example for his son, whose recent birth “changed me (him) significantly.” Sofen said he wants to show his son that, “If something bothers you and something doesn’t sit right with you — it sounds insignificant — but you as an individual can make impacts by taking really small steps.”

Since his son’s birth, Sofen said he’s been unable to engage in the types of out-of-the-country volunteer work he once did, leaving him wanting an outlet to express his love of “helping people … (and) serving people”

“I used to go to Nepal and Cuba and Guatemala,” Sofen said. “And I still am going to do that once I’m able to. But it’s harder to get on the plane to Nepal with my son. So I wanted to channel my social impact, nonprofit energy somewhere.”

While he enjoys making a difference in communities locally and abroad, Sofen said he also “selfishly” enjoys making friendships through his work.

“I’ve made legit friends that we’ve hung out, we’ve got drinks together, we’ve gone to a farmer’s market together. … I’ve enjoyed the fact that I get to connect with people in a new way,” Sofen said.

One such connection Sofen has made is with Sophie Rallo, owner and executive director of Garbage Gals — a local nonprofit centered on picking up trash around the city. The two connected through Instagram and became mutual “supporters and collaborators,” Sofen said. At their routine coffee meeting every few months, Rallo said Sofen offers her valuable advice on “business plans” for her initiative.

“He’s just kind of a godsend,” Rallo said. “I don’t know how people like him exist. He just wants to help for the sake of helping. … He’s a really caring person, and he has a lot of knowledge.”

Rallo said she enjoys being part of a “collective rather than like a bunch of competing organizations.”

“Living in a big city, people are a little bit more community-driven and want to meet and gather and do something good as a collective rather than doing something as an individual, ” Rallo said.

Zona echoed this sentiment, noting that a few of her neighbors were “curious and happy to get involved” in Scoop the Poop after seeing her join.

“Fundamentally, it’s about people who love living in the city and who care about living in the city and who care about leaving a good footprint for their neighbors,” Zona said. “And how can you argue with that?”

While he has enjoyed watching his individual efforts “snowball” into a neighborhood wide operation, Sofen said there’s still “more work to be done.”

“My ultimate vision is zero dog poop on the streets of Chicago,” Sofen said. “We can strive for that, but maybe falling somewhere a little bit short would be great.”

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