#homeless outreach

[elekid]

We Need $$ ASAP To Do Laundry While Living Outdoors

The manner in which my family does their laundry is largely the hygiene center which provides unhoused people in this area with our only safe & free opportunities to shower/do laundry/brush teeth. To make long short, suddenly the machines and dryers are gone, and now there are few & far between opportunites to do laundry for free until sometime in June. Besides us are couple hundred other unhoused people (we uh...tend to not have the disposable income to afford laundromat industrial machine prices, not to mention laundry soap!!!) are also unable to access this service.

I'm making this post to ask for whatever funding you are able to donate in order to access the laundromat across the street for our local unhoused community and ourselves this week. I know that we cannot be the only people running out of clean clothes already...The opportunity to have clean blankets is something that I do not see why any person would deny to another human being!!!

Funds for this laundromat are loaded into a prepaid card that can only be used @ on-site machines, and wheeled cats/wagons can easily be used for transport. The only store purchases neccessary would be laundry soap / laundry sanitizer

We will wash as much laundry as we can afford to!!!

(I can be messaged to ask for alternate methods of sending $$$)

TL;DR HOMELESS COUPLE NEED FUNDS TO DO LAUNDRY FOR SELVES AND LOCAL UNHOUSED COMMUNITY IN THE RISING HEAT !!!

[cjoat-boost]

@a-captions-blog

[chronicallycouchbound]

Unhoused Solidarity In Action

This is a non-exhaustive list of resources you might have access to, or know of, that can be used to aid unhoused community members directly. Many of these focus on direct mutual aid as individuals but can be helpful to consider when in community organizing settings. - What do you (or someone you know) have access to, that you can provide to the community? - Can they be accessed, used, or provided: regularly, occasionally, only in emergencies, weekly, daily, sporadically, consistently, etc.? - Consider seasonal needs (winter coats don’t help us when it’s 90 degrees out!) - Remember to practice active, informed consent with individuals and ask if these would be helpful! Don’t take it personally if your offer isn’t helpful to someone, it might help someone else. - These should be realistic and not compromise your safety or well-being. Remember to prioritize safety over comfort.

Housing

- Consider your relationship with this person (generally, don’t offer complete strangers into your home)

- Location matters a lot. Unhoused people often need to be near “hubs”/cities, close to resources and systems of care.

- Some people can’t live in hotels, couch surf, or any of these options without losing their housing vouchers, and in some cases health insurance or other assistance programs. Legal definitions of homelessness (used by voucher programs) usually don’t include people living in hotels/motels, or couch surfing (including most of these options). Check with the individual to see if this might be helpful.

Extra bedrooms

Campers, trailers

Couches

Apartments

Land/yards to camp on, park at, etc.

Donate funds or points for a hotel room

Shelters

Floor space

Safe parking lots to sleep in your car in (sleeping in your car is considered legal homelessness in most places)

Time

- Emotional capacity and minimizing the risk of burnout are important here especially

Do outreach with a community org

File for grants

Provide education materials

Share knowledge regarding resources

Emotional support - build genuine connections with your local unhoused neighbors

Reach out to companies for donations

Create or add to lists of resources, open bathrooms, etc.

Transportation

- One of the biggest barriers to accessing existing resources is transportation (also mailing addresses, internet access, and active phone service)

Personal car, ride-sharing/carpooling

Bus tickets/passes

Old/not frequently used bikes

Taxi services/vouchers

Uber/Lift gift cards

Carpooling

Coordinate rides for people

Food

- A lot of unhoused people prefer “comfort foods” to “health foods” - Ask about dietary restrictions, the cooking ability of the unhoused person, the cooking equipment, etc. - Soft foods are frequently more accessible to us as dental issues are very common - 100$ in fast food is significantly less than 100$ in homemade food

Can cook hot meals

Can pay for meals

Knows someone (person, business) who can supply food

Inviting people over for a meal

Gifting food (be sure to be considerate of dietary restrictions, cooking ability, equipment needed to cook, etc.)

Have a community dunkin gift card

Make or add to a fruit tree map (fallingfruit.org, community gardens, federal university campuses)

Money

- Money should be freely given, with no strings attached - Ask what form works best for them— cash apps/virtual, physical cash, gift cards, quarters, etc.

It is best to provide cash donations directly to impacted individuals (or organizations) with no strings attached

Provide relevant, local chain store gift cards (Grocery stores, coffee shops, restaurants)

Coordinate fundraisers

Apply for grants

Supplies

- Ask individuals what they need most!

Purchase and donate supplies directly to individuals or organizations

Reach out to businesses

Donate old phones or computers

Add someone to your family phone plan

Donate professional clothes for interviews

Donate an outfit you would actually wear

Talents, Trades, Skills

Your hobbies might be helpful! Crochet is extremely trendy right now (easy to learn, you could make hats/scarves for community members)!

Professional ties/experience Examples: You’re a cosmetologist who can do free haircuts for an hour each week, or you’re a graphic designer who can create a website for an organization for free, or you’re a nurse who can provide wound care to encampments

Community gardens

Connect with and partner with non-profits or community-based organizations in your area (or help start one if there’s none!)

Allow people to use you as a reference for job interviews

Bathrooms

- Not just toilets, but showers and mirrors are important too

Ask businesses to pledge to have open, public, accessible, and free restrooms

Your personal restroom

Make a list of local public restrooms

Free gym memberships or add someone to a gym plan

Services

- In order to access most services, you need most, if not all, of the following: transportation, identification, important paperwork, printing/faxing access, mailing addresses, internet access, active phone service, free time during business hours, and emotional and mental ability (and capacity) to complete everything required (forms, applications, phone calls, interviews, annual reviews, verifications) in a timely manner (usually on a strict deadline)

Case management experience you can volunteer

Peer support for service navigation (great option for people with prior lived experience)

Advocacy within services

Offer to provide a P.O. box or use your address to receive mail

Housing skills

Allow someone to use your library card for books, computers, the internet, etc. (most libraries won’t allow unhoused people to get a library card)

Volunteer at a shelter

Allow someone to use your home wifi, printer, phone number, mailbox, email, etc.

Fundraising

- If you can’t donate your own personal funds, fundraising is a great way to help out

Community mutual aid asks (in person or online)

Art walks

Skate competition

Concerts

Tip jar

Gift basket raffle

Clothing and food drive

Game tourney

Live streams

Start a GoFundMe for individuals/orgs

I strongly encourage you to look over the matching slides I created for this workshop: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1VDngImsMByUFmKX611zAJ43a0UcYIfMBxrbh_g1IJvc/edit

As a disclaimer: I have been homeless/unhoused for over half of my life. My experiences of homelessness have included while being a infant, toddler, young child, preteen, teenager, and young adult. I am 24 years old. My most recent experience of being unhoused was last year, and I am currently precariously housed (meaning: at high risk of losing housing again). My experiences of homelessness have included sleeping outside in a tent, sleeping on park benches and under freeways, walking around all night to avoid hypothermia and freezing to death (something that has happened to several of my friends), couch surfing, sleeping in cars, squatting, sleeping in motels, living in a shelter, and institutionalized. I have been homeless with family a few times during early childhood and again when I was 15. All of my other experiences of homelessness have been on my own starting at age 9 or 10, and the last time I lived with a parent I was 16. I have been homeless in both rural and urban areas. I have been homeless in New England/Northeast United States as well as the Pacific Northwest.

In addition to this, I have many contributing factors to my experience, including being disabled, a person of color, trans, queer, a survivor of child abuse and CSA, being trafficked, and a drug user and a SWer, amongst other marginalized experiences.

That being said: my experience of being unhoused/homeless is not the universal experience. While I know many people of all different demographics who I’ve met on the streets, I cannot speak to every single person’s experiences. I especially cannot speak to experiences outside of the United States, aside from what I hear secondhand.

This is meant to serve as a general guide to accompany a workshop I created, and might not be helpful for everyone. If it’s not helpful, I hope it inspires others to offer creative solutions. I’m always working on expanding this list. Thank you for reading.

[yujisleftshoe]

Not to beat a dead horse, but LIBRARIES literally will give you online access to TV and movies for free without having to pirate them. They also have recordings of theatre productions!! I just watched David Tennants Richard ii FOR FREE with a really high quality recording FROM THE LIBRARY!!!! Everyone needs to GET A LIBRARY CARD!!!!

My library also has access to programs that can help you make your own legal documents if you can't afford an attorney but need things like wills or bills of sale or lease agreements!!

There is concerts and and documentaries and operas and Ballets from carnegie hall and the Palace of Versailles and other world class theaters!

They have coding courses! IELTS training!! News paper access that usually requires a subscription! Audio books! Music! Tickets to events and museums and aquariums and art galleries and carnivales and park passes and youth programs!!!

There is literally no reason to not have a library card. They're free.

[blackh0letempest]

To the kids currently going through abuse from their parents, keep pushing forward. You will get out. You will. It feels huge, it's a lot to think about. You will probably make mistakes. But there is not a single living independent adult that hasn't made mistakes in handling their finances, taking care of themselves, etc. The sooner you get out, the sooner you can start to learn who you are when you aren't being abused, and that self is deeply worth knowing. You are worth the effort.

[terracebatman]

Terrace BC's Batman outside City Hall, supporting those advocating for affordable housing.

[chronomally]

Also read a paper on a smart house (not the DCOM) from the '90s that was like 1/3 horror story, 1/3 "that sounds really useful," and 1/3 "oh, like (thing we already have)"

[lesless]

Hello friends I have a few t-shirts that I'm sentimentally attached to however I can't stand wearing them because they're polyester blends & I have sensory problems lol. Do you have any ideas on how to repurpose them to save their prints? Something useful preferrably?

The best suggestion I have seen so far is to snip out the prints and add them as a sort of patch on top of a new shirt, & while I like the idea I don't have a sewing machine nor do I know how to use one. :/

[the-mercy-workers]

Cross Catholic Outreach is a Catholic ministry that partners with bishops, priests, sisters, religious and lay workers to provide food, water, housing, education, support for orphans and vulnerable children, health care, disaster relief and the love of our Lord Jesus Christ to the poorest of the poor in over 30 countries around the world.

[ironmandeficiency]

respect your local librarians, thanks for coming to my ted talk

[mermazeablaze]

Hey All,

I recently obtained a job at At Home. Which is a decor megastore. So far it's a great job & I like it, my co-workers & supervisors very much.

But corporate makes us do silly things like destroying perfectly good candles, furniture, lighting fixtures - basically anything that is two years from its production date or that is past its "best by date". It's not because the items are hazards. It's so they can claim the tax write offs for destroying them.

Yet they could also gain tax write offs from donating them just the same. But they need motivation from potential & current customers.

I was hoping that people on Tumblr could boost this & use the link I provided to give At Home motivation. It's a simple form & aside from your name (you can use a fake one), email & comment you can leave the rest of the form blank.

I copy&pasted the comment I sent them below. But feel free to personalize yours with your own local/state organizations in the United States that could benefit from donations.

Thanks & hopefully we're able to make even small change with this!

"Hello,

I am an employee at At Home. Recently, we destroyed candles that were out of date. Candles don't expire outside of coloration & smell. I also noticed other items have production & best by dates. Destroying the candles really upset me.

In Oklahoma we have several organizations including Sunbeam Family Services & Pivot that could do quite a lot with candles & other items marked for destruction. Pivot & Sunbeam Family Services help homeless, single parents & young adults leaving toxic home lives with gaining housing, employment & furnishing those homes with donations.

Please going forward in the future consider donating those items, if anything for the tax write offs for At Home.

Thank you!"

[lastcatghost]

Long post incoming, and I'm in a grumpy mood so apologies if it comes off insulting or invalidating. Please read through, if nothing else on this page, please read this post.

Well, though many of yall who read this wall don't know me personally, I think? Either way thought I'd make a quick post updating folks on some happenings.

First, I now own my own livable structure. It's more like a shed on wheels, but it's perfect and it's mine.

Secondly, I'm way behind my original goal for getting this started, but life happens.

I'm going to begin doing summer outreach, and will be posting a fund raise post later once I type it up.

I'm not necessarily asking of yall strangers of this internet corner to send me money or anything like that, but rather an offer open to anybody:

Do you want to make real and significant changes to your community? Do you walk by people begging in the streets and think either how much you wished they'd disappear, or how much you wished you could help them, but you just weren't good financially to even afford sparing a single dollar? Have you heard you or your housed neighbors start blaming homeless people for their suffering in this system, only to keep being a part of the problem instead of the solution?

Well do I have an offer for you! If you want to help improve your community and the lives of ALL people who live in your area, if you wished there wasn't so much trash and dangerous items discarded by your homeless neighbors, and if you wished you could walk around your city at night without housie fear towards homeless people having a moment of crisis.

You can start solving these issues, small steps at a time by volunteering your time, efforts, and spare resources towards doing outreach.

If you've always wanted to give back, while helping some of the most vulnerable people in our society, if you're tired of constantly seething with hatred anytime a homeless persons in your field of view or does a social transgression that housies expect homeless people to uphold, yet do everything in their power to dehumanize those same people, if you resonate with this shit, or at least understand the vibe here, start by doing outreach today, and help folks rediscover their humanity (not just homeless folks).

If any of this sounds even the slightest bit interesting, or you're just curious and want to learn more, feel free to hit up my inbox and we can have a nice chat.

Much love and solidarity, be well, and stay hydrated

[wetslug]

this is so fucked

[chronicallycouchbound]

The last time I saw several different friends before they passed away was during homeless encampment sweeps. When they were displaced, with no phone, no way to get in contact, I never heard from them again.

And I also know that they had no way to get access to services from outreach workers, to get their basic needs met, to have even emotional support through the trauma of homelessness. Their deaths could have been prevented.

Stopping the sweeps saves lives.

[stagvelvet]

One of the old punks at work brought me a pastry as big as my face. Look at this. I love them so much.