It's a critical moment for downtown Burlington. Viral videos have documented open drug use, people pushing shopping carts through the streets or sleeping in tents on city greenbelts, groups loitering on the steps of downtown churches. Merchants say shoplifting has increased. In response to the problems plaguing the city, two different but interconnected initiatives sponsored in part by the Pomerleau Family Foundation are offering reasons for hope: the Downtown Ambassador Project and the Downtown Health Project. The former is working to create a sense of community and security among downtown business owners and employees; the latter offers low-barrier access to medical care and recovery support — backed by caring case managers with street cred. All of these people are working night and day to make the state's largest city safer for everyone who lives and works there. An unusual ambassador supports downtown businesses Andrew LeStourgeon is Burlington's Downtown Ambassador, a new position funded via the Burlington Business Association by members of the local business community, with lead funding through the Pomerleau Family Foundation. The affable 41-year-old can talk to anybody. He spends his time chatting up the people who live and work downtown — employees at local stores and restaurants, business owners, cops, and city councilors, as well as people living on the street. He connects them to each other, or to whatever services they might need. According to local merchants, the Downtown Ambassador Project is working. "We feel so much better with Andrew around," said Jana Qualey of Home & Garden Vermont, echoing a sentiment shared by many downtown workers. Mark Bouchett, owner of Homeport, has witnessed the ambassador's impact firsthand. "Andrew's presence alone has served to prevent many situations from escalating," he noted. "I've seen potential thieves have a change of heart when they realize store clerks aren't alone." It probably helps that LeStourgeon is six foot five. The ambassador project has an office on the top block of Church Street, but LeStourgeon is more often out and about. On a recent fall morning, he could be found leaning up against a lamppost at the corner of Cherry and Church streets, talking with Mills, a homeless downtown dweller. They exchanged a friendly handshake before Mills walked off to join some friends. A few minutes later, LeStourgeon's phone buzzed. A well-known shoplifter had just been spotted walking toward the Church Street Marketplace. Someone had posted a photo of…