Outreach volunteer training March 15

Interested in volunteering with the Duluth Street Outreach Team, or honing your skills to better help people find housing? Join us for a volunteer orientation on March 15! The orientation is open to everyone, but please let us know if you plan to be there: duluthcatholicworker@gmail.com or 218-724-2054.

Volunteer Orientation/Housing 101 Workshop

Saturday, March 15

9-11am

Elim Lutheran Church

6101 Cody St, Duluth 

The orientation will comprise of two parts. The first is an introduction to our work: information about homelessness in Duluth, how to protect the safety and privacy of outreach workers and people experiencing homelessness; and the philosophy of harm reduction. The second portion will be a workshop on low-income housing opportunities in Duluth. We encourage both new and long-time volunteers to attend!

Get in from the cold! Outreach coffee hours and other places to stay warm...

You can find the Duluth Street Outreach Team at the following sites throughout the winter:

Downtown

Tuesdays and Thursdays 

6am to 8am

Gimaajii Building (202 W 2nd St)

West Duluth

Saturdays

7am to 9am

Elim Lutheran Church (6101 Cody St)

• A safe, non-judgmental place to warm up 
• Coffee and food
• Warm clothes and outdoor gear
• Bathroom access
• Help with housing and other resources

The Street Outreach Team can also be reached by phone

Street Outreach Team 24-hour hotline 

218-461-8505

Other places to stay warm and get help if you are homeless or couch surfing: 

HDC Homeless Project 

315 N 2nd Ave West, alley entrance below Damiano

Doors open 10am-5pm Monday through Friday

CHUM Drop-in Center

125 N 1st Ave W

Doors open 8am-4pm every day

Loaves & Fishes

1712 Jefferson Street

Doors open 9am-9pm every day

Community Donation Drive February 1st

(Click here for full printable flyer)

The Duluth chapter of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans and the Street Outreach Team are partnering to collect donations for people experiencing homelessness this winter.

Drop off donations on February 1st 9am-4pm at one of the following locations:

• Concordia Lutheran Church (2501 Woodland Ave)
• Thrivent Financial (629 W Central Ent)
• Salvation Army (215 S 27th Ave W)
• Dorothy Day House (1712 Jefferson St)

Please only donate the following items (new or gently used):

• 2-person tents and tarps
• warm sleeping bags and waterproof blankets
• adult winter boots
• personal first aid and sewing kits
• bus passes and gas gards
• solar or crank flashlights and candles

Duluth City Council unanimously adopts homeless bill of rights!

In its very first policy vote of the new year, the Duluth City Council has unanimously adopted our Homeless Bill of Rights resolution! More than 100 people packed the council chambers to witness the historic vote.

This was a resolution of intent, and sets the stage for the development of an ordinance, as well as directing the city's Human Rights Commission to focus on housing and homelessness issues. The Commission reports directly to the City Council. We have a lot of work to do, but this is a great start! We will keep you posted!

Support a Duluth Homeless Bill of Rights

In September of 2013, a group of homeless campers came together to talk about the threatened eviction of their camp under I-35. Many of them had been moved from other camps by Duluth police and told to relocate under the bridge, with a promise that they would be safe there.

A few disturbing realities kept coming up in the meeting.

For one, Duluth is experiencing a housing crisis. Shelters are at capacity, and many people are not able to stay there because of behavioral problems, anxiety, not wanting to be separated from loved ones or pets or violating shelter rules. Low cost permanent housing, especially for people with high barriers like felony convictions and mental illness, can take months or years to secure.

Secondly, people experiencing homelessness feel like criminals in their own city. Whether intended or not, they are routinely victim to profiling and discrimination. They are asked to leave park benches, come home to find their belongings ransacked, treated suspiciously in stores, harassed by security guards, and violently attacked without feeling that they will ever get justice. And they don't feel like they have a voice in decisions that affect their lives.

In response, a group of people experiencing homelessness, advocates, and city and county officials began meeting weekly to brainstorm a community response to the homeless crisis. The first order of business is to make sure all people in Duluth are treated fairly and given a voice in their own decisions.

On January 13th, the Duluth City Council will vote on an resolution of intent calling for the creation of a Homeless Bill of Rights and city Commission to End Hunger, Homelessness and Poverty. The Bill of Rights will write into law legal protections for people experiencing homelessness, including the right to move and rest freely in public spaces. The Commission will give a permanent voice to poor people in city policy decisions.

Duluth Homeless Memorial 2013. Photo: Deb Holman

What you can do:

1. Sign the online petition tinyurl.com/DuluthHomeless. Then share the petition with friends by email and social networks.

2. Ask your church, business or organization to endorse the petition. Contact Loaves & Fishes at duluthcatholicworker@gmail.com with endorsements.

3. Call your city councilor and politely ask them to support the Homeless Bill of Rights and Commission to End Hunger, Homelessness and Poverty. Remind them that there are homeless and poor people in every council district, and that everyone in our community deserves respect and a voice in policy decisions. You can find their information here.

4. Attend the Duluth City Council meeting on January 13 to show your support. Gather at 6:30pm inside City Hall.

Freezing Temps = Danger for Homeless

With another round of dangerously cold temperatures predicted for the region, the Duluth Street Outreach Team is asking the community to help ensure the safety of people experiencing homelessness.

If you are homeless or have tips on locations of people living outside, in vehicles or in unheated buildings, PLEASE contact the street outreach hotline. Outreach workers will assist people in finding warm places to sleep.

Street Outreach 24-hour hotline: 218-461-8505

Winter home for six people near downtown. Photo: Deb Holman

In recent weeks, several homeless Duluthians have suffered serious frostbite that may require amputation. The Outreach Team stresses that overnight temperatures are extremely dangerous and recommends that no-one attempt to sleep outside in these conditions.

The Street Outreach Team is also in need of warm winter boots (all adult sizes); hand and foot warmers; solar or crank flashlights; bus passes and gas cards. Donations can be left at CHUM (102 W 2nd Street) from 9-4:30pm Monday-Friday, or Loaves & Fishes (1712 Jefferson Street) from 9am-9pm every day. For questions about donations, contact Joel Kilgour (Loaves & Fishes) at 218-340-4356 or Deb Holman (CHUM/HDC) at 218-260-7573.

Winter Outreach Update and Needs List

Kids and grownups from St Paul's make blankets for the Street Outreach Team

It's getting cold outside and many of our neighbors are still without a warm place to call home. The Duluth Street Outreach Team is still hitting the pavement to provide solidarity, survival gear and resources to people experiencing homelessness. As happens every winter, many of our friends have moved into shelter or are doubling up with friends, but dozens of people still brave the cold every night.

We are very grateful for the loving support of many organizations and faith communities over the past few months: Harbor City high school students who collected FOUR CARLOADS (!) of warm weather gear; Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd for preparing 60 cold weather kits with hats, mittens and handwarmers; St Paul's Episcopal K-4th graders who spearheaded a coat drive and blanket-making party; Holy Rosary Cathedral youth who collected much-needed sleeping bags and other gear; and St Michael's, Hillside Methodist, Duluth Church of Christ and Concordia Lutheran friends who continue to supply both gear and sack lunches for the outreach team to distribute.

For the first time ever our teams have a good supply of gear, but we are still in need of the following items:

• One- and two-person tents
• Tarps
• Handwarmers
• Solar and crank flashlights 

...and a good dose of social change!