Homeless Outreach
During 2024, in partnership with the Homeless Coalition of Polk County, we have found and arranged permanent housing for 14 (previously) homeless individuals! Check our Success Stories below to meet a few of those who are now off the streets.
Two years ago, few local high school students began this outreach as their Capstone Project for graduation. Upon collecting several hundred pounds of food, buckets of hygiene products, socks, shoes, and belts, they visited homeless camps and gave individual bags to everyone they found.
At the end of the project, they relegated their idea to us, and we have chosen to continue the Outreach. Individuals and families who are between homes or currently unhoused - sleeping in their car, in a tent, or couch surfing, are able to come here to pick up weekly food bags, shoes, clothing, and hygiene products or other needed items as they are available.
But, we are reaching out further by actually seeking the homeless rather than waiting for them to find us. We locate camps by word of mouth, noticing a path clearing in the woods, or when a client comes in for help with food, and we try to build rapport. We identify those who want to be housed through the relationship we develop with the client. We also receive referrals from the Homeless Coalition of Polk County (HCPC) and when someone from the community or other organization reaches out to us. We work with the client; provide basic necessities (food, clothes, hygiene, bedding, tents); check on them; and listen to their story, wants, needs.
We provide tools to help the client attain their goals (get a job, establish identity, get sober, etc.), and provide resources for areas we are unable to assist (counseling, specific classes, doctor, transitional shelter). Our team works diligently to identify and refer clients to necessary services and aid in completing applications for client betterment such as SNAP, Medicaid, Social Security. We are proud to announce we have now partnered with United Way Navigators to assist with the Polk County Healthcare enrollment applications.
​Our primary partner in this process is the HCPC, who provides much of the funding for this program, and through ESG funding. We have also worked with Bartow Church Service Center and Polk for Recovery. We have also housed a few people through our in-house needs / crisis program, which is supported by our Thrift Store sales and donations from Walmart and other vendors.​
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To find properties that will rent, we have built partnerships with landlords and become client advocates – this means we do whatever it takes to secure the spot for the client. It is not an easy process, but we have been able to do it. To sign the lease, we meet the client at their new unit, explain the lease to them, and walk them through the signing process with the Landlord.
We also support our clients with furniture and other items. When a client moves in, we reach out to the community for furniture donations and open the Thrift Store to the clients to choose whatever items they need, including clothes, food, furniture, linen, etc.​​​
Our Director, Jennifer, taking supplies into a homeless camp after a big storm.
Our team taking food and other necessities to a migrant camp.
Success Stories
Antonio had been sleeping in a vehicle in a parking lot for a few years. He has now signed a lease and moved in!
Our dear friend, Mack, had been homeless for over a decade when he visited us at the Center for food assistance. We helped him re-establish identity, obtain health assistance, apply for Social Security, and finally move into his new home.