This year, Lifeline’s Street Outreach team scaled up and is now running a regular street outreach program at all times of year. We used to only cater to winter & summer extreme weather events!
We discovered new areas that need extra help from our outreach team, resulting in an uptick in need for supplies.
We also recently helped a client get into a sobriety program. We’re proud to announce we are now working with the UMSL Missouri Institute of Mental Health and Harm Reduction Programming. Now, we get to pass out the hydration and food supplies in cute tote bags that have harm reduction materials such as Narcan, tests, and CPR safety kits in them! People adore these bags as they’re quite handy.
The Challenges
Sometimes we come across extreme medical conditions. In fact, some of the clients we have worked to get into housing suffer from a variety of disabilities, long term health challenges, and traumatic medical issues arising from exposure to the elements.
We wish people could see what we see weekly. But we have a firm policy against publishing photos of clients. We don’t think accessing our help should be conditional on someone’s photo being taken during what could be the worst day of their life. We also have chosen not to put such photos online for advertising.
However, the amount of health issues that chronically homeless people suffer equate to being murdered if society leaves them outside. There’s a reason that people who are stuck outside die! And that’s where we come in to connect people to as many resources as are available. We hope more resources become available, too. There are hardly any options for people at present to access housing. If you or your business would like to sponsor someone to get into & stay in housing, let us know or sign up here to help sponsor people!
How to Help
As temps will likely once again soar over the 100 degree mark in Saint Louis, we are kicking off our summer program by accepting hydration supplies (packs of water, packs of sports drinks) and hygiene supplies. Please consider donating via our Charity account on Venmo, too! The supplies we give out can be costly, especially at the volume we distribute.
Contact us for details! And checkout our donation page for a full list of ways to support us financially.
