YWAM's Tenderloin walk 5/02/24
What did we do?
We trained 2 new Outreach Workers, and went out in 3 groups to give out +Hot coco and build relationships with our unhoused neighbors in the Tenderloin
One of our goals was to encourage people to go to YWAM’s community Center, the Ellis Room to build their relational capitol
Metrics
We gave out around 60 cups of hot coco, total
24 flyers per group: 72
30 pairs of socks per group: 90
15 health bars per group: 45
How was it?
Good, Kyle trained the newcomers because Kent was out sick
Everyone who wanted one, got a POAP with Kent’s art
Someone shared that a lot of people didn’t want the hot coco
People’s mood was good due to weather, and SSI timing (beginning of the month)
Lots of construction everywhere
Started during APEX and left asphalt, then 3 weeks ago they were working on it
Nearby corners have a high turnover, you find the tents there usually
People haven’t been too effected by the construction areas, but folks sometimes toss trash in it
Ralph is always cleaning up trash on Ellis Street, and he gets paid by Glide
We saw people with kits from UCSF
G, our formerly unhoused outreach worker, seemed to know a lot of the people we met today
What are the highlights?
A man sniffed the socks jokingly and we all laughed
Seeing outreach worker, Alex discover the little kids walking by with signs “safe passage” was nice
T was a woman Lorenzo saw, and she was talking to him. After gaining the socks, she felt more comfortable
At times, Lorenzo was working hard to control his face, and not laugh
Unhoused Outreach Worker E received a target gift card for coming on the walk and supporting
Formerly unhoused Outreach Worker G received a target gift card for participation too
J was in front of the Starlight he was someone that Isaiah knew
Learning moment
There was a woman in dog pajamas who had been yelling at a man in a window earlier. One of our new volunteers complimented her Pajamas, “Your PJs make me happy. and then the woman aggressively yelled “I am happy you are still breathing.” Which was a little stressful at first, but as we all walked away it was humorous because technically that is a nice thing to say to someone. It was just presented in a loud/startling manner. This shows us that it’s ok to not interact with everyone we see, especially if you notice them yelling/activated earlier in the walk.
Questions
1. The people in yellow jackets, what do they do?
They mostly triage housing and job connection for immigrants.
3. Who are in the white vests?
Code Tenderloin, a workforce development and mentorship organization that teaches coding and other tech skills to unhoused and formerly unhoused people. They are a YWAM partner, and are respected. YWAM opens at night during heavy rain sometimes and Code Tenderloin offered to support on those nights to drive around bring people over.
Harm reduction has good aspects of it, but sometimes is leans on the side of enabling vs encouraging change. If we have Fentanyl test strips available in the Ellis room community center, then people will have their drugs out in that center, and that’s not what we want. YWAM is mostly focused on the relational part of things. For example housing: where are good bridges, but not landing spots. M.O. is that want to lead towards relationships, not a place to come, get items, and bounce. Our goal is to get people to improve their relational capitol.