Going in Dark

Street outreach teams are known for their shiny vests. Ours say street outreach on the back and have the HOPES logo and team member’s name on the front. The vests help keep us safe by letting other people see where we are. (They are especially bright under headlights!) They also help people we meet feel safe as we approach. (People wearing reflective vests are probably not out to cause harm.)

Surprisingly, the reflective vests are often the only bright and shiny clothing we wear while on outreach. Although we wear our vests as a “best practice” for overall safety reasons, there are times that we take them off and “go in dark.” This usually has to do with confidentiality and protecting the security of someone’s location.

Sometimes people reside in a location where they are not really supposed to be. As an outreach team, we hope to help them end their homelessness and leave that spot and the streets. This can take time. In the meantime, we meet people where they are.

A key element of street outreach is maintaining confidentiality. An important component of that is not giving away the location of someone’s spot. We will go and meet someone, even if they are in a location in which they could be asked to leave. Recognizing this, we make efforts to go to and from the location unseen and without attracting attention. We take off our vests for the visit, “go in dark,” and then put on our vests again when we return to our vehicle after the visit.

Taking off our vest sometimes seems to go against our usual practice of wearing vests, but confidentiality trumps bright vests when we are going to visit someone we know in a place they want to keep secret. We don’t do this too often, but sometimes one “best practice” is more appropriate to a situation than another, especially when it comes to maintaining confidentiality and a strong relationship with someone who is experiencing homelessness. Otherwise, we like our vests!