This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
A Longmont-based nonprofit is celebrating 10 years of helping people experiencing homelessness.
When 5 people in Boulder County died from exposure-related illnesses over the winter of 2006/2007, a group of dedicated citizens came together to form HOPE (Homeless Outreach Providing Encouragement). The aim was to provide life-sustaining support in the form of food, water, clothing and blankets. This is still the main focus of the charity today but over the years they have grown to offer other services to people experiencing homelessness in Longmont.
HOPE's core program of providing basic needs every night of the year is driven by over 300 volunteers who offer their time as Soup Angels and Street Outreach workers. Soup Angels can be any mixture of individuals, families, clubs or groups who sign up to deliver 20 bagged meals to the HOPE office once a month in time for the nightly outreach shift. Each night there are currently 4 lots of Soup Angels delivering 80 meals between them. Once the meals have been delivered they are loaded into the HOPE vehicle and taken to 5 different drop off locations in Longmont to be handed out to handed out to people experiencing homelessness or at-risk of homelessness in Longmont. The demand is often higher than 80 meals and so the vehicles are loaded with extra non-perishable meals that have been donated. During the winter the same vehicle also carries a supply of sleeping bags, blankets, clothing, hygiene kits, shoes and other essential donated items needed to help the homeless survive the winter. In the summer the supply van goes out once a week when it pairs up with the vehicle handing out food currently on a Tuesday night.
This past winter HOPE used more of their budget to run an emergency shelter every night between 11/15/16 – 3/15/17 with additional severe weather activated dates. Having a place to engage with the Longmont homeless community every night meant HOPE staff and volunteers were able to offer additional services such as case management, showers, laundry and medical care provided by the Hopelight Medical Clinic to treat emergent and chronic health conditions. Seven people experiencing homelessness were also given training and hired as part-time staff at the shelters. Three individuals moved into housing as a direct result of their employment at the shelter during the 2016-2017 season.
According to the HOPE website during the 2016 season, street outreach volunteers made 36,942 contacts (37% increase from 2015), supplied 30,200 meals, 4,025 pairs of socks, 1,630 blankets, 158 nights of emergency motel sheltering, 2,300 guest nights of cold-weather sheltering, facilitated 14 individuals to move into housing.
Along with street outreach and shelter, HOPE also provides emergency assistance which can vary from case to case. This varies from helping people obtain IDs to apply for work or benifits or it could be providing medical respite to individuals released from hospitals who have no indoor place to stay. Another valuable service offered by HOPE is storage for people to keep their belongings as they work, seek employment, or attend classes and appointments. The charity also run a mentoring scheme called Step Up Longmont and have a cycle scheme called Bikes For Hope, a partnership between local businesses and cycling enthusiasts in the community which helps distribute bikes to individuals in need.
There is no doubt that HOPE has been at the front line providing essential services to those in need for the past 10 years. They have many opportunities for the Longmont community to get involved, from street outreach to Soup Angels, non-perishable meal builders to blanket makers, you can find out details on their website here. Donations can be dropped off at the HOPE warehouse Monday – Friday from 2pm-6pm at 804 S. Lincoln Street, Longmont, CO 80502 or you can call the office to arrange an additional time on 720-494-4673. HOPE staff say they are in real need of new underwear (men and women's) currently but any items from their most needed list would be welcomed.
Most Needed Items
- Winter gloves
- Men’s work boots sizes 10 -12 (steel toe is ideal – can be new or used)
- Men’s athletic tube and hiking socks (new or used)
- Men’s jeans waist 28 – 32 (new or used)
- New underwear (men’s and women’s – all sizes)
- Winter coats (new or used)
- Men’s hoodies (new or used)
- Sleeping bags
- Blankets
- Thermal long underwear, medium and large (new or used)
- Individually wrapped non-perishable food items – especially tuna packets, vienna sausages, fruit cups, applesauce, protein bars
- Packages of disposable razors for shaving
