Friends of the Homeless at Grace

03/20/2022

Thank you to everyone who has supported this ministry!

While COVID 19 changed things (with the Fort Worth Code Enforcement Department shutting down distributions like area along Presidio St. in Fort Worth) we used the time to learn more about the systems in place to help the homeless exit homelessness and we have much to share.

During that time, we partnered with the fledgling Grand Prairie Homeless Outreach Organization to distribute supplies with them by helping to supplement their efforts.

Now we have another opportunity to engage as actual hygiene distribution volunteers through both the Grand Prairie Homeless Outreach Organization (GPHOO) and CIRCLE Ministries to the Homeless that serves unsheltered homeless neighbors in the border areas of cities (including Arlington) tangent to Grand Prairie. CIRCLE street outreach efforts “circle” Grand Prairie.

To explain more, we will have a meeting soon. The details will be announced here.

We look forward to having you come out with us and serve the unsheltered homeless in relational ways. By serving with us, you will see where the unsheltered homeless actually live and learn more about their needs and how to help them exit homelessness.

Thank you again to all who have helped us get started. Now it’s time to regroup and move forward.

11/02/2020

Dear Friends of the Homeless,

COVID 19 has changed a lot of things for a lot of ministries and people.

We have learned that the City of Fort Worth no longer allows congregate distributions of food and items. Some people have begun doing so again, but the City discourages it lest someone, possibly unknowingly, positive with the virus exposes even more people to the virus and then they go to a homeless shelter and potentially cause more people to get sick.

So, we must change how we are operating.

One of the main tenants of our ministry is the intentional efforts to engage our homeless - to learn their names - to learn about their homelessness and their needs and to pray for them. That’s relational ministry as opposed to transactional ministry, where you just give out items and they walk away until the next time.

With the large gathering-type of distributions shut down, we have to take a new approach.

Our Steering Committee will meet soon to discuss some new proposals. Basically we are considering shifting the locations to Grand Prairie and Arlington and changing the congregate nature of the distributions so that we can do an even better job on the relationship building.

We have an opportunity to continue the distributions by going with an organization that serves the homeless in Grand Prairie and on the border with Arlington.

The distribution to these locations would not entail large gatherings, but would be along a delivery route that takes several hours to complete. Through this effort, you would go to where our homeles stay and you would learn their names and their stories. You would be able to develop long-term, hopefully helpful relationships. You would, if interested, be able to participate in Bible studies with the homeless in Grand Prairie and along the border with Arlington.

We will get back to you with more details after the Steering Committee meets to flesh out a plan.

In closing, and in the meantime, we want to express our deepest and sincerest appreciation for all that you have done for this ministry and for the homeless in Fort Worth. You have done an outstanding job.

The group effort to have neat and organized distributions with items suggested by the homeless (items they weren’t getting from other ministries, such as reading glasses, ethnic hair care products, nail clippers and baggies with Qtips, cough drops and bandaids) made an memorable impact.

The effort to leave Unity Park and the parking lot cleaner than we found it and to recycle all the cardboard was the right thing to do every time.

Our debriefing sessions shaped our ministry into a better ministry, and the things we learned are being used by the Grand Prairie Homeless Outreach Organization - GPHOO where the knowledge and experience gained by of the Homeless helped that ministry be more confident in their efforts.

You all did a great job! Thank you!

You’ll be hearing from us again soon.

04/28/2020

Dear Friends of the Homeless,

With the onset of COVID 19, the City of Fort Worth has asked that all distributions to the homeless in Fort Worth along E. Presidio Street stop until further notice. This is to protect both the homeless and our volunteers.

In the meantime, the Steering Committee will meet to discuss some other options for assisting the homeless in Fort Worth, Arlington and Grand Prairie. We will post an update soon.

Thank you for supporting this ministry. Please keep the homeless in your prayers as the virus situation has made things much harder for them.

On the other hand, please know that the shelters, mental health organizations, medical providers and others are working to keep them safe during these extraordinary times.

01/19/2020

We had a wonderful group of volunteers who helped to distribute specialty care kit items to the homeless who live near the shelter area along Lancaster and E. Presidio in Fort Worth yesterday.

The specialty care kit items were donated by various individuals, organizations and businesses.

Thank you to the Grand Prairie Host Lions Club and their grant sponsors America for providing so many of the supplies. Thank you to Lamb and Rodriquez for your leadership in ordering and organizing the grant-funded supplies.

Thank you to Warm Wishes for the amazing kits with toboggans, thermal socks and gloves packed into drawstring backpacks. Those backpacks sure came in handy!

Thank Reed for all of those hundreds of hours you spent crocheting the plarned (plastic yarn from grocery bags) into bedroll mats. They went like hot cakes!!

Thank you to Shebra Hackett: Allstate Insurance for the deodorants, toothbrushes tooth paste and other supplies. The deodorant was a big hit!

Thank you Young Johnston the great coat drive you led at Baptist in Grand Prairie. Those coats have helped so many people!

Thank you Edmondson for the much needed hygiene supplies.

Thank you Kur for the crayons and coloring books, hygiene items and other helpful things you contribute each time.

Thank you to the Cal and Ruth Brundrett Family Foundation for the grant that enabled us to purchase all those supplies.

Thank you to Mason Brawley and the Dallas Heat for coming out a s helping!!

Thank you to Patterson and Mike Patterson for coming and helping and considering ideas for your groups to serve the community.

Thank you to Hall, Stevenson and Suzanne Stevenson, Gonzales, Delgado and Delgado, Sensenig and sons and Wanda McMurray, Jack Jackson, Jackson, Chelsa Harris, Hafey, Stork, Paul Whitaker and Whitaker and all the other wonderful of the Homeless from Grace Covenant Church who either donate through the church and/or who give of your time to help us. A special thanks to Grace Covenant Church and Howell and Pastor Sullivan for all the ways you support this effort and for going with us each time to pray with our homeless friends.

There are too many to name and we surely missed some donors and volunteers. We are very thankful for all who support this ministry.

Our next distribution will be in late March or early April.

Check out the photos from Yesterday's distribution.

01/17/2020

8 am - 1 pm. Tomorrow, Saturday, January 18, 2020
Volunteers needed for the quarterly distribution of specialty items to the homeless in Fort Worth and Grand Prairie. Detail in comments section.

12/27/2019

Please see comments for more info...

09/16/2018

As the Friends of the Homeless of the homeless gear up for the 3rd Quarter Distribution of items to the homeless on Saturday, September 29, 2018, we must also be thinking about the onset of freezing weather.

Thus, the Friends of the Homeless at Grace Steering Committee plans to host a sweater, jacket and coat distribution the Saturday of the first frost. We will be seeking volunteers who can be on call to help with that distribution.

Please go through your closets and start thinking about which sweaters, jackets and coats you can donate. We'll announce a special collection date for that.

In the meantime, here's a wonderful video about a program that makes coats that turn into sleeping bags. Former homeless people help create these coats...

www.thegrommet.com/the-empowerment-project To help homeless people stay warm in the winter, Veronika Scott created the EMPWR coat. This water-resistant, self...

08/20/2018

Dear Friends of the Homeless,

Please join us from 4-6 p.m. on Saturday, August 25th for our 3rd Quarter Distribution Planning Meeting. This meeting will feature an informative video about homelessness in Fort Worth and we have invited a special speaker. More details to come.

Also, please note that the Steering Committee met and after evaluating all of the input about which date is best to host our 3rd Quarter Distribution, we voted to keep it as originally scheduled on Saturday, September 29, 2018.

We'll explain more when we meet.

Please reply back in the comment section to let us know if you can make this important meeting.

Thanks!

06/21/2018

The Friends of the Homeless at Grace is a group of friends, and friends of friends, who collect items that are useful to the homeless who gather near an area called “Unity Park,” that is along the 1400 block of E. Presidio in Fort Worth, Texas. We distribute the items on a quarterly basis - on the last Saturday of each quarter.

The project was initially launched as an informal Facebook-based effort and was subsequently adopted as a sustained ministry of Grace Covenant Church, in Arlington, TX in April 2018. You do not have to be a member of Grace Covenant Church to participate in this project.

The items we collect and distribute were selected based on research we’ve conducted to find out what the homeless need that’s not already being distributed by other ministries. There are many organizations and ministries that distribute items on Saturdays in the vicinity of Unity Park. Our project is one of the ministries that distributes items and we distribute our items on a quarterly basis.

We’ve decided as a group to distribute “Care Kits” that include many of the items requested by the homeless. The items in the Care Kits have all been donated. We have a goal of making 80 of Care Kits per distribution. That number may change in the future.

Below is the list of items we typically collect for the Care Kits. Some of the items will always be in the Care Kits and some items, such as mosquito bracelets or hand warmers, will be based on the season. These items are assembled into gallon Ziplock bags, which is how we distribute the items.

Women socks
Men socks
Trash bags 42-45 gal.
Flavored water packets
Tubes of sunscreen
Toilet paper Rolls
Bottles of Water
Coverlet bandage
Flashlights
Kleenex pouches
Coverlet bandage
Gallon Ziplock Bags
Q-Tips
Alcohol swabs
Finger nail clippers
Insect repel Bands/Bracelets
ziplock snack bags

We also distribute other items that don’t fit in the Care Kits.

Below is the list of additional items we distribute (when we have the items) on the last Saturday of each quarter.

Additional items:

Pocket Bibles
Travel toothbrush & paste
Tubes antibiotic ointment
Cooling towels
Cold Neck wraps being made
Cheese cracker packs
Cooler on wheels for neck wraps
Coloring Book
Packs of Crayons
Men’s clothing (esp jeans & shorts)
Women’s clothing
Men’s shoes
Women’s shoes
Ethnic hair care items
Feminine Care Items
Dog food in 1 gallon bags labeled
Cat food in 1 gallon bags labeled
Tarps
Backpacks
Rolling luggage

If you are interested in donating items from our lists and/or participating the quarterly distributions to the homeless, or if you would like to learn more about this ministry, please let us know. You can post your questions here and we will gladly get back with you. Our contact information is in the “About” section.

In closing, if you really feel led to participate, ask to join our Friends of the Homeless Group, where post logistics about the remaining items we need, where to meet and more.

We hope you’ll join us!

Thanks!

The Friends of the Homeless at Grace

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