The Outreach Kit

We always carry the same things in our street outreach kit when we are out in the field:

• Blankets and Sleeping Bags

• Socks

• Water

• Food

  • Warm Burritos

  • Ramen Noodles in cups (chicken, beef, spicy chicken, or spicy beef) We have the hot water to make them in thermoses.

• Coffee and Hot Chocolate

• Granola Bars

• Hygiene Products

• Handwarmers (in the winter)

• Informational brochures with services available for people experiencing homelessness in Racine

When we first started doing street outreach at night, we took out anything that people gave us. For example, someone might give us some juice boxes and we would hand them out. Then, we found that people would request juice boxes (or whatever else we had been given) and we would have to say that we don’t have any and that it was a one-off thing. There was an expectation that we would have juice (or whatever) followed by disappointment.

Now, we always carry the same items, but we always have them. We had hot and spicy chicken ramen noodles Saturday night, we will have them tonight, we will have them next week, and we will have them next year. Consistency allows the people we serve to know what to expect, allows the teams to best organize their supplies when they head out, and allows HOPES to ensure that we are able to maintain stocks of our outreach items.