Mission:

Homeless Gear Outreach Video (Produced by Fort Collins City Cable 14)

Homeless Gear Family Of Programs:

Please see individual program pages for more details.

• Distribution
• Children In Need
• Non Perishable Food
• Night Street Outreach
• Hand Up

Distribution:

Homeless Gear collects unwanted or surplus Outdoor Gear (packs, sleeping bags, tents, tarps, etc), Outdoor Basic Clothing (coats, rain gear, boots, etc), Hygiene Products (deodorant, disposable razors, shampoo, etc) and distributes these items to the homeless.

We want to make the days more bearable and the nights survivable for homeless men, women, youth, and children as they struggle to regain self sufficiency.

We distribute our products through:

• Our Gear Room (open 5 days a week)
• Monthly & Quarterly Distribution Events
• Shipments to 40+ facilities/agencies that serve the homeless throughout Colorado
• Night Street Outreach

Children In Need:

The focus of our Children in Need program is to provide homeless and near homeless children basic clothing, hygiene items, and other essentials.  Our goal is to provide these children with basic necessities to ensure that they are protected from the elements, able to meet basic health and hygiene needs, allow them to actively participate in school and simply to help bolster their self esteem and provide as much normalcy in their lives as possible.

Non Perishable Food:

We provide non perishable and readily consumable (no cooking needed) food and drink components as well as complete Take-Away meals to the homeless that we serve directly during street outreach and our distribution events and to many facilities throughout the state that also serve the homeless.

• The homeless need more calories to fight off the cold and to offset the large amount of calories burned given the amount of walking they do.
• Many seek day labor very early in the morning or have jobs at odd hours and miss regular meal times at the shelter.
• Many are not able to get into the shelter.
• They have nothing to take with them to store in their packs for the times when they can’t get to the locations serving meals.
• The juice boxes that we provide helps to ensure proper hydration especially during extremely hot weather.

Night Street Outreach:

Homeless Gear Outreach is a program providing life-sustaining supplies and support to the homeless community at night and on the streets throughout Fort Collins, while offering connection to the many programs that are in place to help them.  We are building long term relationships based on a high level of trust and helping the disinfranchised to re-connect to the path leading to self sufficiency.

Hand Up:

The Hand Up program is a two-track program that aims to (a) help homeless and low-income individuals gain and maintain employment and (b) provide intensive support – beyond employment – to homeless men, women and families as they work to regain self-sufficiency.

Through the “Employment” track of the program, we meet with each job seeker individually to create a personalized job search plan that includes building of job search skills and tools. These ‘tools’ include knowledge about how to identify jobs openings, knowing how to appeal to employers using a targeted resume &cover letter, using positive references, as well as having solid interview skills. We combine this approach with an effort to guide job seekers identify their barriers and provide encouragement and strategies to overcome those barriers, whatever they may be. We can also offer materials and resources to aid the job seeker to maintain their job, such as appropriate work attire, bus passes, food and other needed assistance.

Through the “Transitions” track of the program, we pair teams of volunteers, or “Advocates,” with single homeless women (known as program “Partners”) Under the guidance of our staff, those volunteers help their Partners establish goals, navigate resources, escape homelessness and regain self-sufficiency.

The Realities of Homelessness:

Red, Sable (dog), Tammy and Rick receive two packs and a sleeping bag from Homeless Gear.

A segment of the homeless community can not gain entrance into an overnight shelter because there are no more beds available or they have issues with drug or alcohol use.  Even if they do find overnight shelter they have to spend the majority of their day outside in the rain or snow.  Imagine what a warm coat, a good pair of boots, a blanket, or sleeping bag could do for someone forced to sleep or spend the day or night in their car or outside exposed to the elements.

Also imagine what a warm smile, helping hand, and companionship through the system can do to provide Hope to the men, women, and children that are caught in the nightmare of homelessness.