Help the Downtown Association of Fairbanks Community Services (DAFCS) support the Emergency Service Patrol.
The ESP is a community-funded program and couldn’t do what it does without community support. The city wants private sector financial support to fund programs addressing these types of public safety. In 2022, ESP Ambassadors operating citywide:
- responded to 4,979 calls for service involving a person intoxicated or incapacitated in a public space; and
- transported intoxicated or incapacitated persons from public spaces to familial, medical or clinical care 1,759 times.
The Emergency Service Patrol has at least four positive impacts on the Fairbanks community. First, the program’s longevity and reliability – it was formed in 2007 – mean that the community and emergency service providers can count on its continuing role in managing the intensive needs of chronically inebriated people. Second, a vulnerable population has the ESP looking out for them on the streets, in parking lots, and all public spaces to head-off victimization, cold-related injuries and death. Third, the ESP seeks care for individuals appropriate to their condition, thus cost-effectively conserving the community’s medical and emergency resources. Fourth, the ESP’s efforts reduce intimidating behaviors and make public spaces welcoming to all citizens of the Fairbanks North Star Borough.
The ESP is an important program, as the numbers show, and this letter from Mayor David Pruhs makes the city’s case for your financial support. The ESP benefits all residents by responding to calls for service and provides for the welfare of many – in addition, your donation “levers” additional funding by encouraging others to give to this unique program.
It is a unique relationship – a non-profit giving money to the city for its obligations to pubic safety – but it works and we are happy to play this role. Thank you for reading and thank you for donating or considering a donation to the ESP.