Warp Corps is addressing the challenges of gathering and distributing resources to the homeless as dangerous winter weather continues.
Excerpt from the News Nation article by
Katie Smith
Updated:JAN 11, 2024 / 12:49 PM CST:
https://www.newsnationnow.com/weather/winter-storms-homelessness/
What do people need?
Whether you choose to make care packages to distribute or donate supplies to local nonprofits, people’s needs vary by community and circumstance.
Getting to know the people in your community will help you identify short-term and long-term needs.
“It starts with showing some basic respect, acknowledging someone, saying hello, seeing how someone’s doing,” McFadden said.
Many shelters post lists of urgent donation needs on their website, where they might call for supplies such as toiletries, winter clothes, food, cleaning supplies, hand-warmers and gift cards.
If you’re still unsure, donating money to organizations already doing the work can go a long way, said Rob Mutert, founder and executive director of Warp Corps, a nonprofit in McHenry County, Illinois.
The group targets suicide, overdose deaths, substance abuse and homelessness prevention through community engagement. Its outreach program connects people experiencing homelessness to community services and shelters, and issues camping gear, cellphones, cold weather necessities and Narcan kits, among other supplies, depending on local needs.
“Having a little reserve of cash within the organization can allow us to be very target-specific on the needs in that moment,” Mutert said.
Get involved
When a bus transporting migrants arrived in Woodstock, Illinois, late last month, Mutert’s call for help on Facebook mobilized “a mosaic” of public and city officials as well as individual volunteers, he said.
The donations of backpacks and winter clothing that poured in were enough to send the bus passengers to their next stop with at least some necessities on hand.
“Within 24 hours of the bus showing up, we were on a Zoom meeting with about 30 people, (including) the head of the Migrant Council in Chicago, to set up a strategic quick response team,” Muterert said. “So whenever a community, even outside of McHenry County needs help, we can load the van and get the kits to whatever community might need them, even if it’s just in a preparatory mindset.”
On a larger scale, McFadden encourages people to ask questions about the funding available to their communities.
HUD awards discretionary funding through more than 20 grant programs that support initiatives, including affordable housing development and preservation, fair housing, homelessness, and rental assistance.
“We know how to end homelessness but it’s a question of resources,” McFadden said. “The president’s budget calls for some major investments and something folks might want to ask at the state and local level is how are communities using the funds that HUD is providing? What are the choices that they’re making?”