A new pilot program will run July 1 through September 30 in central downtown Eugene (7th Avenue to 10th Avenue, and Charnelton Street to Pearl Street), designed to strengthen the day‑to‑day experience of being downtown. 

The program will add 334 new hours of weekly coverage (focused on evenings and weekends when coverage is scarce) from Red Hats and Ambassadors, expanding both on‑the‑ground support and the overall presence downtown.  

Ambassadors are a new role designed to engage with business owners and pedestrians, offer wayfinding assistance, connect individuals in need with appropriate service partners, and focus on proactive cleaning to keep public spaces welcoming.  Ambassadors will be hired from Everyone Village, Community Supported Shelters, and Sponsors (all partners of A.C.T. Now Lane), with coordination led by Everyone Village. 

Red Hats have been run by Downtown Eugene Inc. for more than a decade, as visual guides to offer help to the general public and assist businesses with property concerns.  They coordinate closely with the Eugene Police Department, Downtown Peer Navigators (run by Ideal Option), Mental Health Co-Responders, and the Rapid Response Clean Team. 

Over the past few years, there has been a changing landscape of public safety, street outreach and clean-up efforts.  This pilot is aimed at providing more individuals with lived experience as a part of that solution – creating meaningful work opportunities while increasing the number of people who can provide support and help activate Eugene’s city center. 

The pilot is funded by a local business leader through a grant awarded to Downtown Eugene, Inc.. And we’ll be excited to share updates about this cross-sector community partnership throughout the summer.