GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The efforts continue to clean up and make the city of Grand Rapids a safer place.
Tuesday, we told you how businesses have seen people having sex in public areas.
READ MORE: Multiple downtown Grand Rapids businesses voice concerns about harassment
In July, the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce sent a letter to the city with a list of serious and graphic issues.
REFERENCE: Grand Rapids Chamber alarmed by growing issues going on in the city
FOX 17 caught up with the Chamber Wednesday to find out if they’re seeing any progress.
“I think more employers are now more aware that we’re, we’re engaging in this issue, so we’re hearing more incidents, having more reported, unfortunately,” Josh Lunger, the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce vice president of government affairs, explained to FOX 17 Wednesday.
Lunger advocates for the business community and helps with government policies.
“I think most of our public, the folks that live and work here, would agree that something needs to be done,” he added.
Lunger addressed the city commission back in July about the ongoing issues businesses expressed.
One includes a woman getting attacked and sprayed with an unknown liquid.
“The city’s done some very proactive things, I think, that are going to help with investigating in the HOT [Homeless Outreach Team] team. For a while now, the mental health co-response model, the chief, we’ve had head since our conversations,” Lunger said. “GRPD was able to pick up some folks that were going illegal, you know, breaking, entering, trespassing and there’s some actions that are just, you know, breaking into cars, breaking the buildings, stealing. I mean, that stuff’s happening too consistently and so it was great to have some wins.”
FOX 17 reached out to the city to learn more about the work it’s doing.
The city’s homeless coordinator, Tammy Vincent, expressed how issues like criminal activity, cleanliness and homelessness can be addressed right now.
“I know there’s a lot of work being done on the broader homelessness issue, but in the short-term, what I’m thinking about is how do we intervene in an effective way to this unacceptable behavior? I’ve separated that from the homelessness issue because it’s not just a homeless problem and there’s a mental health component, obviously. There’s a substance abuse component and there probably is folks that overlap or those that are experiencing homelessness,” Lunger explained.
Lunger added that many businesses are making internal changes to address ongoing challenges.
“While we balance the need to raise awareness of the severity of the issue, we also want to highlight the good things and again, I think a lot of us are all growing in the same direction. It is just how do we get the changes in outcomes and the chamber’s hoping to help facilitate that. We’re not providing the direct resource, but we’re facilitating the conversation,” he said.
