The Beginning of Street Outreach
Today, our team took its “maiden-voyage” out to a pocket of our city, to see who we could find in need. Street outreach is my first love. Spending time with folks, listening to their stories, and bringing them a pinch of hope that they are noticed and loved. We’ve chosen outreach as our tangible way to reach out to the community neighborhoods where we hope to land with Sanctuary. We’re a committed team, going out each Friday, with resources for triage.
On our first day, as we found ourselves in a boarded up and condemned apartment complex, now dangerous and used as an illegal dumping ground, we encountered John and Jenny*. A couple in their 30’s. He told us no outreach team had ever visited them before us. They had been “outside” for over 2 years. With pride, he pointed to a second floor balcony, where he had strapped a solar-powered generator he had created for their “home”. Two years. No one. Only 7 miles from Monument Circle.
That was only one of many encounters today. We also discovered a very hidden and recently abandoned encampment, with all of the signs that it was inhabited by two females. And then two elderly Veterans, struggling with mental illness and addiction, who have been outside for 5 years.
*Names have been changed to protect identity.
