What We Do

Emergency housing

The emergency housing team aims to provide assistance to those who are most in need to find shelter for the night. During temperature extremes, shelters fill up extremely fast - leaving some with no option but to be exposed to the elements all night. Our team will go out and find those who need help, and help them get into a hotel or motel for the night. For many of these people, getting off the street for even a night or two can motivate them into looking further into resources and allowing themselves to be given the help they need. Giving temporary shelter provides an avenue for the team to connect with the unsheltered and offer them further assistance.

Substance abuse reduction

Living on the street is extremely difficult and forces many people to turn to substance use.
According to SAMHSA, 38% of homeless people abused alcohol while 26% abused other drugs. Drugs and living on the street are an extremely vicious cycle, taking money and health from the user - while digging them deeper into a hole. Attempting to help someone struggling with severe substance abuse is difficult, but Feel the Love’s substance abuse team includes experts on street drug use and how withdrawal works. The goal is to be as compassionate as humanly possible to those who are struggling with one of life’s most difficult vices.

Meals

While meals are a small step towards truly helping someone - they are essential as having a meal with someone allows you to get to know them and their story. Feel the Love’s meals team will find homeless people who could use a good meal or conversation and spend time with them - hoping we can give them much more than a meal. “If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” is a fantastic quote that encapsulates our ideals. Once you eat a fish with a man, you might be able to convince him to learn fishing for himself. Our longer term goals would include helping the homeless acquire sources of income, as well as teaching them to ‘fish’ by cooking for themselves.

Employment

Many homeless do not get jobs simply because they are not in a mental or psychical place to be able to work for 6-8 hours a day. Fortunately there are a few major corporations that understand this and are willing to hire people with the understanding that they may take extra training and time to adjust. Our team has already gotten connected to one major retailer who is excited to offer jobs to homeless people who are in the process of getting off the streets.

Connection to local resources

There are lots of local resources available in major cities - but many are hidden away and not easily accessible to those on the street. There are numerous statewide medical and unemployment benefits available that are simply difficult to file when living on the street. In addition to that many homeless do not have cell phones or internet, leading to an even lower chance of them getting connected to the help they deserve. Our team will find those people and enroll them in our local resource program. This program includes:

Shelters and Food banks

Medical resources

Federal and State benefits

Legal help

Feel the Love is currently in the process of assembling a small team of lawyers and legal experts who can assist homeless with any legal issues they may have. Once we get to know the individual and meet their basic needs, our lawyers will look into providing them with legal assistance and advice.