As winter rolls around in Colorado, if you’re lucky, you’re not thinking about how you will keep your feet warm and dry throughout the cold and wet season. For some people in the Longmont community, walking into a closet and grabbing a pair of winter boots is not an option and, historically, these individuals may have suffered from wearing shoes that are unfit during the winter.
This month, the Colorado Center for Podiatric Sports Medicine, or CCPSM, Homeless Outreach Providing Encouragement, or HOPE and Brown’s Shoe Fit are teaming up to supply Longmont’s vulnerable homeless population with warm boots.
"Our goal is to collect winter boots, work boots and new socks to help HOPE For Longmont help the most vulnerable of our neighbors," James Yakel, podiatric medicine doctor, owner, and practitioner at the Colorado Center For Podiatric Sports Medicine said. "I know how important proper footwear is not only to the health of people's feet but their overall well-being.”
In a press release, the three organizations emphasize that there are many reasons a person may be unhoused — mental health issues, job disruption and the pandemic are just a few causes of homelessness. “Sometimes it is by choice, but most frequently, it is not,” the press release states.
Longmont citizens can support the boot drive, thus their unhoused neighbors, by donating winter boots at either Brown’s Shoe Fit or Dr. Yakel’s office at 1551 Professional Lane, Suite 160, before Nov. 29.
The boot drive seeks new socks and gently-used or new boots which are waterproof, warm, made for working or for snow activities, Stephanie Horvath, director of patient and community relations at CCPSM said, “basically anything that’s going to keep people’s feet warm and dry.”
Afterward, the boots will be distributed to members of Longmont’s homeless population, providing them with appropriate footwear they need to brave the Colorado winter.
Dr. Yakel, the instigator of the boot drive, said the program’s success will be measured by how many pairs of boots are donated — this year, he hopes for at least 50 pairs. Since it began last week, this year’s boot drive has seen around 15 donations.
While living in Longmont for the past 23 years, Dr. Yakel has witnessed a growth in the number of homeless people in his community. As a doctor in podiatric medicine, “I certainly pay attention to their footwear and it’s not good,” he said. “I have also seen how quickly a minor foot problem can escalate into something awful, especially in diabetics."
Dr. Yakel recognizes the homeless population is more likely to be subject to health issues related to their feet during the winter months as a result of not having the proper shoes to keep their feet clean, dry and warm. According to Horvath, such issues include an increased risk of catching frostbite in one’s feet which can lead to permanent nerve damage and, in severe cases, amputation.
Dr. Yakel became inspired to give back to the Longmont community in a way that would benefit the homeless population’s quality of life, he said, specifically in terms of their foot health and especially during the holiday season.
He came up with the idea of a boot drive and approached HOPE — a nonprofit that does outreach work for the unhoused population — and Brown’s Shoe Fit — a community-minded, locally-owned shoe store — in hopes that these organizations’ work in the community would inspire their involvement, he said. Both responded positively to Dr. Yakel’s proposition and got onboard to make it happen.
“It was a natural fit for (the three organizations) to work together to make something like this happen,” Horvath said.
HOPE helps people experiencing homelessness meet their basic needs and break out of homelessness. It operates the only year-round overnight services center in Longmont and meets people where they are through outreach to engage them in services.
"We are always on the lookout for new and relevant ways to meet the needs of those that come to us,” Andy Schwartz, volunteer and outreach director with HOPE said. “With the donation of new or gently-used boots and athletic shoes, the unhoused population of Longmont will have a better chance of not only surviving the winter with all ten toes, but it also affords them the ability to walk to their jobs or find work in the winter safely and with dignity."
For Dr. Yakel, the future goal for this program is to hold it annually and, each year, attract more donations and partner with additional organizations to have more shoe donation boxes around Longmont we can get donations from, he said.
“Hopefully people will continue contributing and giving back to the community,” Dr. Yakel said. “I look forward to seeing where this will go in the future; hopefully next year it will be even bigger and better.”
