Ambassador Program Beginning In Fort Worth

FORT WORTH (CBS11) - Among the people working, shopping and eating in downtown Fort Worth, you'll start noticing a few who stand out as much for their loud greetings as they do for their loud shirts.

If you think it's the silliest question in the world, come talk to me," Matt Kunes-Keller said Thursday. "I'm here for the public. I'm here for the businesses."

Kunes-Keller is one of a dozen new ambassadors walking around downtown. Their job is really whatever you need help with.

"They are an extra set of human, person to person services available out on the street" said Andy Taft, President of Downtown Fort Worth, Inc.

Taft said downtown residents, hotels and business, started noticing more people who just had questions. So they looked to a program used in almost 100 other cities, including five in Texas.

"That could come in many forms," he said. "If somebody got a dead battery, or flat tire, or struggling to get a box from the car to the office building door and they can't get a door open, we're going to be there to help them."

Kunes-Keller and others are on the street from 7:00 a.m. to midnight, helping with security, helping keep things clean, and everything else in between.

The cost for the first year of the program is $600,000. It is being paid for by an increase in what property owners pay for the downtown public improvement district.