By Shondra Muhammad | Deputy Executive Director
We resumed the Community LUV program in August without distributing the $25 gift cards. As we projected, program attendance decreased. Dropping from 70-80 participants each service, we now have an attendance of 10-20 participants. We believe that removing the financial incentive program encourages attendance from people who are truly experiencing homelessness, and will continue to benefit from hot meals, free showers, barber services, and personal care items.
As we adapt the program to meet our current needs, more opportunities have become available to meet with participants one-on-one to assess their individual needs. Two of the participants that we met with expressed that they were not ready to change their situations. Both were grateful to have a place where they can come inside, “get cleaned up,” and have nutritious meals. One disclosed that she is aware of how her addiction to drugs is impacting her life, but she does not have a desire to stop using drugs.
On a more hopeful note, one of our participants expressed that he believes his situation is temporary. He asked for help finding a job, and we were able to connect him to our job counselor. She has found 2 leads that seem promising for him.
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