Tenderloin Walk 12/07/23

YWAM hosted us for our 2nd Outreach Walk in the Tenderloin. We had a good group attend with 10 volunteers and 6 Street Outreach Captains. Some of us got to hear Kent's orientation for the 2nd time. He shared the history of the Tenderloin and best practices for engaging safely and respectfully with our unhoused neighbors. The unhoused advisor cautioned the group, "Don't be fake, this population can smell it from a mile away." So volunteers worked to be genuinely interested in building bridges with their neighbors.

YWAM hosted us for our 2nd Outreach Walk in the Tenderloin. We had a good group attend with 10 volunteers and 6 Street Outreach Captains. Some of us got to hear Kent's orientation for the 2nd time. He shared the history of the Tenderloin and best practices for engaging safely and respectfully with our unhoused neighbors. The unhoused advisor cautioned the group, "Don't be fake, this population can smell it from a mile away." So volunteers worked to be genuinely interested in building bridges with their neighbors.

For the group led by Kyle, an experienced WYAM staff. He brought his baby for this outreach. We didn't walk very far before our Hot Cocoa container was empty. We went back to YWAM to fill it up. People in the tenderloin were very friendly, and we gave Cocoa to people outside of their tents, sitting on the ground with sleeping bags, or to folks walking by. The recipients were mostly males, a range of age groups, and only 3 out of the 25 people we met declined the Cocoa and conversation. A lot of people on the sidewalk outside of St. Anthony's were in the middle of using Meth or Fentanyl with straws, foil or glass pipes. When our group greeted them 2 stopped using to talk with us and 1 continued. We focused our attention on the people who were able to pause, and gave space to the other. Some unhoused people had heard of YWAM and have used their services. Roughly 25% hadn't heard about YWAM. Most of them shared that they would like to come visit the community center and they were excited to access showers and clean clothing.