FORT SMITH, Ark. — As the city of Fort Smith is seeing a rise in pedestrian collisions and fatalities, a local nonprofit is stepping in to do their part on helping those numbers go down.
Jessi's House is a nonprofit community hub for LGBTQIA+ youth from ages 18 to 24. They're all about being a safe place for individuals, and now they're working to make their city safer for anyone traveling on foot or bike.
The group recently launched a new community initiative called Project Pedestrian.
"It is a plan to place bins down Grand Avenue full of reflective gear at the main crosswalks near the stop lights, because it's just incredibly hard to see," said Dante Vincent, an Assistant Case Manager at Jessi's House. "In the winter, it's very dark, you can't see anybody, so it's just very important to have that reflective gear on. Even when they're walking on the crosswalks, we want to prevent that as much as possible."
The city does and is working to have initiatives and infrastructure to keep roads safe, but Samantha Holland, the Director of Case Management at Jessi's House, wanted the group to take a direct approach.
"I was driving down Grand Avenue, and they have the flashing lights at some crosswalks, and I realized there's somebody walking across the street, and I couldn't see them at all," Holland said. "How could we, like, make a difference and save one life?"
Through Project Pedestrian, the gear in the bins is completely free for anyone who needs it.
Recently, the Fort Smith Police Department announced the adoption of a no-tolerance jaywalking policy.
In an announcement on Dec. 9, Chief Danny Baker said Fort Smith experienced its 75th pedestrian collision on Dec. 7. This crash was the third to end in a fatality.
"75 people being struck by vehicles in Fort Smith, one is too much," Holland said.
"People without homes or people without public transport, who rely on walking and riding bikes and everything, they deserve as much safety as everybody else," said Cyd Keener, an Assistant Case Manager at Jessi's House. "We also just want to make Fort Smith a safe community, not only just for people like us, but for everybody."
Jessi's House asks if you want to donate to help their mission, just place any reflective gear on the bins lining Grand Avenue. There are four bins on the intersection of 50th Street and Grand Avenue.
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