The Salvation Army goes out every Friday to do outreach to the local unhoused population in downtown San Francisco. They have 100 recovery beds available when they have enough caseworkers. Currently 80 are filled up. They also have 30 detox beds available, but participants sometimes get referred to other programs once they are successfully detoxed from the substances they were taking.

Lieutenant Andrea wanted to give more of the recovery program participants an opportunity to come on this Friday’s walk, and Annmarie wanted to bring a volunteer to support. Lt. Andrea suggested Annmarie drive behind the Salvation Army van for this week’s outreach.

Before going out, the volunteers and program participants make sandwiched together. In addition to socks, leg warmers, hygiene kits, orange juice, water and coffee, the volunteers passed out 180 turkey and Cheese sandwiches with mustard and mayo packets on the side.

We loaded the van, put on our Salvation Army vests, circled up, held hands and prayed for safety for us and hope for those we would help on the streets. Annmarie and Cherisha went to their car, and Andrea waited for us at the cross street touching the Hope Center, with three male volunteers from their program.

The participants here are mostly very energetic and joyful because they are finally clean after so long. There is a friendly and joking nature of this community that is truly contagious and beautiful to see. The sandwiches were completed and the tables were cleaned up quickly. It is apparent that the volunteers have done this before and take pride in supporting the next wave of folks in recovery.

They invited Annmarie and Cherisha to come to their church services, especially to enjoy the choir’s performance and skits. Lt. Andrea will do a sermon at a future service coming up. Annmarie and other DAO members will try to attend.

Some people who we interacted with in the Tenderloin near Polk Street were friendly and expressed deep gratitude. People in this first area didn’t appear to be intoxicated, more just groggy and tired from sleeping in the cold, outside. Some people asked for more condiments. When we apologized for not having more, they were understanding. People were not picky with the sock selection. Men were grateful to have any socks, even if they looked feminine.

Lt. Andrea asked for support in finding more sock donations for these Outreach Walks, because they will increase their frequency to 3 times per week once they hire an assistant for her. Bombas, an ethical sock brand that donates 1 pair for every pair purchased, is at full capacity. I signed up for their waitlist and looked around online. The most affordable option for long, cotton socks is $521 for 600 pairs of socks. If they feed 180 people with sandwiches per each Outreach Event, then this would last them 1 week’s worth of Outreach. The Dao members can discuss to figure out what the best way to supply them with socks, could be.

One of the recovery participants who was volunteering saw a childhood friend of his who was living outside. He encouraged him to come to the program. Hopefully a seed was planted in their conversation.

One of the recovery participants spoke fluent Cantonese and firmly, but politely re-directed an elder Chinese American woman away from the sandwiches. He explained that this service is just for unhoused people. It’s great to have a diverse group of volunteers for moments like this.

There was one woman who appeared very tired and in a low mood. She had a cup of coffee and a sandwich from the volunteers, but when one of us offered her a hygiene kit, she became triggered. She refused the kit, started yelling and placed her coffee and sandwich down gently on the ground. She walked across the Street and Lt. Andrea went over to check in with her. Unfortunately she didn’t want another sandwich or coffee.

Some unhoused people we met has swollen feet and hands. Sometimes people would be hunched over, or even completely bent in half. The recovery participants shared that the slang for this ailment is called “7s” since they can look like the number 7. This is from Fentanyl or other Opiod use. It’s also known as the “Heroin Hunch” or “Heroin Lean”

“Opioids also tend to make people’s coordination unbalanced and their limbs feel heavy, so it can seem at times like they’re dragging themselves as they’re walking or they’re slouching over strangely.” -recoveryvillage.com

We pulled up to a cluster of people sitting on the sidewalk and smoking drugs together. People were sluggish and it was hard to encourage them to walk over and get a sandwich. A volunteer asked them to pause on smoking (the Meth or Fentanyl from his straw) while we were stationed there. He paused for a moment, and then continued, so we had to leave to avoid second hand smoke. This is especially important for our volunteers. If they used to do these drugs and accidentally get high from second hand smoke, this could be a risk for relapse.

It is good to have a lot of us greeting people, keeping an eye open, and inviting unhoused folks to come get some of the resources and hear a little bit about what we do.

It is very important to have someone in recovery or who is sober now, join these events. They are the “walking proof” as a success story of overcoming addiction.

We didn’t give out too many cards to people, but some were invited back to The Hope Center for Detox and to get their lives back. It’s best for people to hear the offer from someone they have rapport with and can trust.

The team ate lunch prepared by the esteemed Salvation Army chef, and debriefed all together. Eating and debriefing is a nice way to connect and bond a team together.