This month’s effort was simply excellent! Our collaboration with Artisan Church, Asher House, Clean Start, Dominion Senior Living, HOPE Missions, the LOT Project, and Tiffany Black, the hair stylist, meant folks had an opportunity for a delightful breakfast, an invigorating shower, service information from several community providers, along with haircuts, shoes, coats, warmth item sets of hats-gloves-scarves, belts, and socks for the 89 folks who came! Embedding agency representatives into the serving process gave them an opportunity to connect with people intentionally and resulted in some tailored service opportunities.
We need more men’s sizes 7.5, 8, 8.5, and 9 shoes – we couldn’t provide five people shoes in this size because we ran out; we also need more women’s sizes 12 and 12.5. We need more larger-sized hoodies, 3X and larger for both men and women – we went through most of what we had.
We were able to provide 83 pairs of shoes – 6 of them for workers with specific requirements – 160 pairs of socks, 75 hoodies/coats, 68 belts, and 75 blankets/sleeping bags. We also provided 84 sets of hats, gloves, and scarves. The 89 people served averaged 48 years of age, and their median age is 50, while the oldest is 82.
I also looked at the folks who came on multiple months: we served 311 unique individuals this year (January through November) – 188 of them (60%) came just one month out of the ten; only three people came eight of the 11 months; a total of 20 came half or more of the months – 6.4%. In all we served 105 women and 206 men this year through November. Of those who came half or more of the available months, their average age is 54 – and the oldest is 82.
We intentionally advertised the First Friday program with those who are served by SMC&MC, and 31 of the 400+ they see came – and the average age of those who came is 49. More people came to the LOT Project during First Friday’s event than were served at HOPE Missions. Interestingly, while 50 went to both places, 39 only were served at the LOT Project, and 50 only were served at the mission.