FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) – One late-night food vendor out on Dickson Street has just declared his hot dog stand a safe place for anyone who might find themselves in need.
Cody Yancey has been serving hot dogs out on Dickson Steet for 13 years now. He said he’d seen enough in those years to know having a well-lit, well-watched safe space will be a good addition to the block.
“I’ve seen a lot of people down here find themselves in unsafe situations and don’t know how to get out of it, and sometimes it ends up bad,” said Yancey.
So he’ll be ready to help in any way he can.
“You might not know what to do, you’re separated from your friends, or your phone is dead, and you don’t know how to Uber home. You can come over hang out with me and we’ll figure it out,” said Yancey.
Yancey’s post on Facebook to students and parents explaining the safe space at Yancey’s Dickson Street Dogs has caught a significant amount of traffic.
“That’s where there are about forty-five hundred engagements, hundreds of messages. I was trying to keep up with it halfway through yesterday, and then it was just too much,” said Yancey.
A gesture that has not gone unnoticed.
“I feel like that’s awesome, that’s great. To have a safe space especially for girls on Dickson, I would go there, one hundred percent,” said Taylor DeCarlo, a student at the University of Arkansas.
Yancey said several parents have been stopping by his stand to thank him for pledging to do his part to make the street a safer place.
“Some of them are like hey can I send you money, you keep it in the fund if you need to send someone home in a taxi. I said, hey, that’s a great idea but I’m not set up for it yet,” said Yancey.
Yancey said he plans to be putting out safe space signs so everyone’s aware, he also hopes more businesses open when the bars get out join in on the safe space idea to better project the entire street.