The support for a program helping both business and the homeless and those with mental health issues in Belleville’s Downtown District was overwhelming from Belleville council Monday.
The Welcoming Streets program that features one full-time staff member who offers counselling and advice to people in crisis or causing a disturbance in the downtown is coming to an end due to a lack of funding.
The BIA asked council for $140,000 to not only keep the program running but to add a second staff person. The extra staff member would allow the program to offer extended hours including some evenings and Saturdays.
Chief of Police Mike Callaghan asked that council support the expanded program saying it has made an incredible difference with dramatically fewer calls to police for service.
Executive Director of the BIA Luisa Sorrentino told council the BIA’s main goal was to help create prosperity in the downtown and that Welcoming Streets staff provided an essential service that helped both business and those living on the streets and facing mental health/addictions issues.
Addressing council Sorrentino said, “How can you not afford to support this program? With no Welcoming Streets there will be more calls to police and less business in the downtown.”
Since the program’s beginning, Welcoming Streets Steward Sara Behring has dealt with over 200 people in crisis, sometimes talking and consoling them for an hour or more. Councillor Barb Enright-Miller described Behring as a “good and a brave woman.”
Council approved the request unanimously.
