PULASKI, Va. – They’re calling it Project Recovery.
Leaders in Pulaski are working to find new ways to assist those in the town without a permanent place to stay.
“In the summertime, we have a lot,” said Samuel Schumate, chief of police.
Town Manager Todd Day explained that despite having a smaller population, Pulaski has a higher-than-average number of people living on the street, causing problems in town.
“One of our biggest areas is breaking and entering, trespassing, vandalism, so those areas we have a really high count,” Day said. “Our crime rate in those four areas is a little above the FBI’s national average.”
Day noted that the issue affects both downtown and neighborhoods, causing difficulties everywhere.
“We hear from businesses, obviously because of the breaking and entering, vandalism, and trespassing, but we also hear from the citizens that live in this town who are having those same issues,” Day said.
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Pulaski Police Chief Samuel Schumate acknowledged that it’s an ongoing problem.
“It is something that they are going to deal with on a daily basis. We are constantly getting calls for individuals that are trespassing,” Schumate said.
The end goal of Project Recovery is to connect people who need help with the resources available.
“We would like to introduce these individuals to a helping hand in the community and allow that individual to work with that entity to maybe help them gain a higher quality of life and maybe get back to where they can all contribute to the community,” Day said.
While there are still many details to work out, leaders hope this initiative could help the folks in the town who need it most.
