Our Opinion: Pearl Ambassadors pilot deserves kudos — and continued support

BY BERKSHIRE EAGLE STAFF

THE BERKSHIRE EAGLE

FRIDAY, AUGUST 22, 2025

As controversy continues to compound over a public camping ban proposal, homelessness and its downtown effects have received much attention recently in Pittsfield. Policies are important — but so are people. Expanding the humanistic dimension of this sometimes heated local debate is always a worthwhile consideration, and the Pearl Ambassador Program offers a way to enhance this valuable and oft-overlooked lens.

The program, operating as a pilot this year, is simple: Residents at the city’s Pearl shelter can volunteer to help clean up the downtown area — picking up litter, washing benches and parking kiosks and maintaining cigarette-butt disposal receptacles. They work two-hour shifts one to three times a week, and in return they receive a weekly stipend to dine at downtown restaurants.

For all its simplicity, it has profound implications. It reminds residents and businesses who might be exercised about the issue of homelessness that these unhoused individuals are not mere obstacles to an orderly downtown; they are human beings who are often not only able but willing to productively contribute to their community if given the means and opportunity.

The Ambassadors program does a good job of quite literally highlighting those contributions. Those visiting downtown Pittsfield in recent weeks might have noticed the ambassadors clad in bright yellow high-viz vests and toting trash-collecting gear. Launched by Downtown Pittsfield Inc. in partnership with ServiceNet, which runs the 40-bed shelter at 21 Pearl St., the initiative was formed by feedback from various North Street merchants — including eateries that provide the meals for the volunteers’ weekly stipends.

ServiceNet and Downtown Pittsfield Inc. as well as the North Street businesses who contributed to the conversation deserve a shout-out for their creative mission that simultaneously spreads compassion and targets a real issue at the heart of Pittsfield. On top of the benefit to downtown cleanliness, which has been at the center of the debate over the encampment ban and homelessness in general, there’s an intangible but invaluable benefit to bringing together vulnerable people and community stakeholders who might otherwise appear to be at odds as the city tackles a tough issue. That was clear from an Eagle interview with one shelter volunteer who reflected on how the program has positively impacted his personal journey.

Pittsfield should be trying to replicate stories like this one as much as possible. Not every shelter resident or homeless person can volunteer, and it’s worth stressing that the ability to do so should not be considered a prerequisite for treating all of our neighbors, regardless of housing status or personal struggles, with dignity and humanity. Still, making opportunities like these available to any shelter residents who wish to participate serves as a multiplier of dignity and humanity — one we’d like to see continue. At a cost of $10,000, the pilot program began in June and is set to run through the end of October. It’s funded in part by MassDevelopment’s Transformative Development Initiative cleanup program, but organizers will have to seek further funding for it to continue.

Given Pittsfield’s financial footing, we don’t take lightly the notion of suggesting another municipal expense. However, given the relatively low overhead of this program in proportion to its tangible benefits to downtown and its intangible benefits to the soul of Pittsfield, this is a mission worth supporting — and even expanding. It wouldn’t necessarily have to be shouldered entirely by the city; Pittsfield could kick in some money augmented by other sources like grants, fundraising or contributions from downtown businesses who want to see the cleanup aspect continued. The volunteer pool could even be widened to include interested attendants of the soon-to-open housing resource center in addition to Pearl shelter residents.

After all, a sense of shared purpose and skin in the game is what makes the Pearl Ambassadors program not only appealing and valuable but worthy of continuation and replication.

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