Downtown Ambassadors’ night watch is making a difference

This article was originally shared on WUFT | By: Martine Joseph

A new program aimed at making downtown Gainesville a safe and welcoming place for residents and visitors has been ongoing for nearly four months.

The Gainesville Downtown Ambassador Program, which launched on Dec. 2, has introduced a lime-green uniformed team of ambassadors to provide hospitality, safety and outreach in the Downtown Gainesville Service Area and the West University Corridor Service Area.

Block by Block, a national provider of urban ambassador services, manages the program, which was approved by the Gainesville City Commission and is part of a three-year, $3.1 million contract.

The program is paid for by the Gainesville Community Reinvestment Area’s downtown Gainesville budget, which is jointly funded by the City of Gainesville and Alachua County.

Reed Johnson, a team lead for the Gainesville Downtown Ambassadors, said he starts every shift by observing the area.

“Every day has a different face,” Johnson said. “I like to walk through the entire area that we cover and know who’s where and who’s hanging out with who. It kind of gives you a preview of what the night will look like.”

Johnson and other safety ambassadors have built relationships within the community to know the area and its residents well, he said. They are on a first-name basis with many unhoused individuals and greet passersby on the streets with familiarity.

Joey Johnson, an unhoused man who is not related to Reed Johnson, said he appreciates the presence of the ambassadors.

“They’re friendly,” Johnson said. “Like Martin Luther King said, the content of their character.”

Beyond providing a friendly and familiar presence, the ambassadors serve as mediators, resolving disputes before they escalate. One night at the Rosa Parks bus station, Reed Johnson said he found himself mediating a dispute between two individuals who ran up to his vehicle, shouting.

“We helped them resolve the dispute, and they went their separate ways,” Johnson said. “Some stuff you just get called to do because you have a relationship with them.”

When fully staffed, the program has 14 ambassadors, according to the city of Gainesville. In the first two months of the program, ambassadors have engaged with 114 people experiencing homelessness and helped 15 people find places to live.

In January, they made 35 referrals to Veterans Affairs to connect veterans with housing, healthcare and other essential support, according to the city.

More than half of the ambassadors’ work focuses on assisting the unhoused community. Employees initiate much of this work because they see its value, Johnson said.

When Johnson’s coworker brought in a bale of blankets, the ambassadors were able to distribute them during the cold winter months.

“People knew that we had them, so they would stop us and say, ‘Hey, do you guys have blankets?'” Johnson said. “That’s not something that’s written into the agreement we have with the city. That’s just something we as employees of the company took up ourselves.”

Instead of throwing away clothes they may find while patrolling the city, Johnson and his team collect and redistribute clothing items to the unhoused community living in the downtown area.

“Some of these folks may not change for weeks at a time,” Johnson said. “As we just ran into individuals that needed something, we just gave it out. They ended up feeling like, you know, a new individual. And they’ll tell you too.”

One key resource the ambassadors value highly, Johnson said, is the blue card for St. Francis House, which provides meals, showers, and cold-night shelter.

“A lot of times we come across new people and introduce ourselves and try to make sure they get blue cards,” Johnson said.

In addition to their work with the unhoused population, ambassadors regularly stop and engage with local businesses in the area.

“We try to make it a habit to stop in, like, two or three businesses a day,” Johnson said.

According to the city of Gainesville, the ambassadors operate on foot, bicycle, and vehicle. Business owners often call on them for assistance when individuals are loitering or disturbing customers.

Jessie Ives, a barista at Kavagator, said she sees the ambassadors as a constant presence.

“We have a lot of homeless people, and inherently they’re not bad, but sometimes they can get kinda scary,” Ives said. “They come in around 7:30 and check on us constantly and ask if we need anything.”

Makenzie Dalton, a fourth-year sports media and journalism student who has worked at Relish for two months, said she has already built a friendship with the ambassadors and appreciates having someone in her corner.

“Where I worked before, we really didn’t have people come in and check in on us, so it’s nice having someone there for you,” Dalton said. “Obviously, there’s a lot going on downtown, and sometimes being a girl can feel unsafe.”

The ambassadors’ presence has also lessened the burden on local law enforcement, said Johnson.

“They’re able to be dispatched to other parts of the city,” Johnson said. “Plus, they know they have a dependable ally that will call them in case of emergencies.”

As the program continues to develop, Johnson emphasizes other qualities that make a great ambassador, in addition to compassion and empathy.

“Just being personable, approachable, and not being afraid of people,” Johnson said. “Especially regardless of what their current state might be.”