By early August, the 13 ambassadors who will be feet on the street for the Downtown Chattanooga Alliance should be on the job.
"We've got uniforms, and we are excited to get started here in Chattanooga," said Ashley Cannon, who works for Block By Block, the vendor that won a $625,000 contract to provide services and oversee the program.
Cannon spoke Wednesday to the board of directors for the alliance and said she has been in town since Sunday working on recruiting ambassadors and setting up the program. She said candidates for the roles have been strong, and she anticipates a start date in about two weeks for the 13 ambassadors and the operations manager who will oversee them.
Chico Lockhart, who does outreach during the establishment of programs for Block by Block, has been in Chattanooga talking with people on the streets, trying to learn whether they are transient, long-term homeless or panhandlers, he told the board.
"Your town is very friendly, including the people on the streets," Lockhart said.
Lockhart recently spent three days walking three miles primarily along Market and Broad streets, talking with people and getting a sense of the city. Ultimately, the goal is to connect people who are on the streets in the district with services, particularly if they are homeless.
"We want to give them resources to get the services they need," Lockhart said. "We want to find out why they're out here."
In his outreach work in Cincinnati over 12 years, Lockhart has helped to house more than 400 people, said Steve Brookes, the executive director of the Downtown Chattanooga Alliance, who joined the organization in April.
Contributed photo of Steve Brookes, executive director of the Downtown Chattanooga AllianceThe downtown district, initially called the Downtown Chattanooga Business Improvement District, was established by city ordinance in July 2019. The contentious process prompted lawsuits and objections by business owners included in the district.
Properties within the district zone pay special assessment fees of about $1 million a year collectively to fund improvements to the central city to make the area cleaner and safer, as well as to fund enhanced beautification and other special projects. In May, the board agreed to rebrand the Business Improvement District as the Downtown Chattanooga Alliance.
The first priority of the ambassadors in the district will be deep cleaning and cosmetic improvement of the area, Brookes said.
"You're going to see within the first couple of days a big difference with the ambassadors on the ground every day," he said.
While cleaning will be a first priority, the ambassadors will eventually be trained for the more complex and sensitive work of outreach to homeless people in the district, Brookes said.
"We are not here to replace the police department, but the ambassadors will be trained to defuse the situation and hopefully keep from having to call the police," he said.
He has walked the district with members of the board, partners from Block by Block, and he hopes to extend invitations to other stakeholders via a calendar on the alliance's website, Brookes told the board.
Assessment fee collection for the alliance stands at $756,000, or about 85% of the fees owed by property owners in the district, Gordon Stalans, chair of the board's finance committee, reported Wednesday. The district recently met with four nonprofits that have lobbied to be exempt from the fees, and made an offer they hope to hear back about in August, Stalans said.
The board also approved a lease for an office at 407 Broad St., at a cost of about $1,600 a month. The first year of rent will be waived because the alliance will make improvements to the property, said board chair Steve Hunt.
The office is about 1,260 square feet on the second floor of the building, with access to storage and parking through the Hampton Inn parking garage.
Contact Mary Fortune at mfortune@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6653. Follow her on Twitter @maryfortune.
Contributed photo of Steve Brookes, executive director of the Downtown Chattanooga Alliance