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Questions: What is in your Care Packages? How much is that based on feedback from the recipients, and how much is it based on expert opinions? (Social worker

Questions: What is in your Care Packages? How much is that based on feedback from the recipients, and how much is it based on expert opinions? (Social workers, homeless agencies, whatever.) Is your local homeless population small enough, or stable and well-connected enough, that you've acquired a minor local reputation as "Care Package guy"?

JohnFen 2y ago
When I started, I selected items for my packages based on professional advice. Over the years, I've listened to feedback from the people getting them and have refined them a lot. Because I don't hand out thousands of them, I can make them a bit more generous than most. Each package currently costs me about $7. I have two flavors, one for winter and one for summer. I don't have a complete inventory list with me right now, but from memory: socks (1 pair in summer, 2 in winter: socks are perhaps the most difficult clothing item for homeless people to find), a small first aid kit, sun screen, ibuprofen, hand warmers, mylar blanket, toothpaste & toothbrush, a menstrual pad (amazingly useful even if you don't menstruate), a snack that can be eaten with bad or no teeth, a P-51 can opener, a personal letter from me and a sheet listing local resources (including places to get free meals: if someone uses them all, they can eat a solid meal six days out of the week), that sort of thing. My goal is that the package provides, basically, emergency urban survival items that will last for 2-3 days. I think the best things to include vary from place to place, so if you are thinking of doing this yourself, my advice is to talk to homeless service providers in your area to get an initial list, then refine over time. There is a very large homeless population in my area, and about 2/3rds of them are "regulars". I have a pretty fixed territory and the people in my area know who I am enough that I'm no longer really considered an "outsider" anymore. In fact, I often have regulars point me toward people who are in particular need or who are newly homeless. The care packages are only part of it, though. Another big part is just letting people know that someone out there sees and values them as people, and another big part is just general wellness checks. If someone is having a crisis, others will tell me when they won't tell those they consider outsiders, then I can call in a local agency that will come out to give them a level of assistance I'm not able to. This has happened a dozen or so times now.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- JohnFen 2y ago
  Replying to my comment to add a complete list of what's in the summer packs I'm handing out now. I also wanted to mention that I buy the items for these in bulk to keep costs down, and that the letter I include has ideas and instructions for how to get the most use out of the kit, such as using the mylar blanket+ziplock bag as a makeshift solar water heater. Also, I select items with an eye toward covering things that aren't readily available from other services. 1 first aid kit (3 Antibiotic packets; 3 Hydrocortisone Packets; 6 Ibuprofen Packets; 6 Bandaids; 1 large bandage; 3 Sunscreen packets) 1 tuna snack 1 granola bars 1 mylar blanket 1 hot hands 6 wet wipes 1 travel kleenex 1 pair socks 2 sanitary pads 1 chap stick 1 toothbrush cover 1 can opener 14 q tips 1 toothbrush/toothpaste 1 Applesauce pack Everything is packaged in a gallon-sized ziplock freezer bag.
  - bell-cot 2y ago
    Thank you! Have you considered adding any of: - A few strips of duck tape, with peel-off backing. Those might be used for repairing shoes / clothing / makeshift shelters, improvising pressure braces for weak joints, and securing the mylar blanket or other possessions in windy conditions. - Several sheets of "quality" tear-off paper towel. Cheap, and they're fairly good as ersatz washcloths and sponges - A plastic hair comb
    - JohnFen 2y ago
      I love the tape idea! And including some paper towels seems like a no-brainer. One of the uses I suggest for the sanitary pads is as sponges. That is, after all, what they are. Just super-absorbant sterile ones. I used to include a comb, but stopped because they're easy to get from other places, they sometimes damaged other things in the bag, and they were often discarded. I also used to include nail clippers, but couldn't find inexpensive ones that weren't really crappy, so I didn't think they carried their weight in terms of cost/benefit. I've been trying to find a way to include decent gloves (meaning ones that would be better than wearing one of the pairs of socks on your hands) in the winter kits for years, but I can't find any that fit into the budget. However, last year I teamed up with a sewing hobbyist who makes very warm and cozy hats. I couldn't put one in the packages, but carried a few with me and would give them separately on a more selective basis. Maybe we can expand that to gloves as well.

JohnFen 2y ago

When I started, I selected items for my packages based on professional advice. Over the years, I've listened to feedback from the people getting them and have refined them a lot. Because I don't hand out thousands of them, I can make them a bit more generous than most. Each package currently costs me about $7. I have two flavors, one for winter and one for summer. I don't have a complete inventory list with me right now, but from memory: socks (1 pair in summer, 2 in winter: socks are perhaps the most difficult clothing item for homeless people to find), a small first aid kit, sun screen, ibuprofen, hand warmers, mylar blanket, toothpaste & toothbrush, a menstrual pad (amazingly useful even if you don't menstruate), a snack that can be eaten with bad or no teeth, a P-51 can opener, a personal letter from me and a sheet listing local resources (including places to get free meals: if someone uses them all, they can eat a solid meal six days out of the week), that sort of thing. My goal is that the package provides, basically, emergency urban survival items that will last for 2-3 days. I think the best things to include vary from place to place, so if you are thinking of doing this yourself, my advice is to talk to homeless service providers in your area to get an initial list, then refine over time. There is a very large homeless population in my area, and about 2/3rds of them are "regulars". I have a pretty fixed territory and the people in my area know who I am enough that I'm no longer really considered an "outsider" anymore. In fact, I often have regulars point me toward people who are in particular need or who are newly homeless. The care packages are only part of it, though. Another big part is just letting people know that someone out there sees and values them as people, and another big part is just general wellness checks. If someone is having a crisis, others will tell me when they won't tell those they consider outsiders, then I can call in a local agency that will come out to give them a level of assistance I'm not able to. This has happened a dozen or so times now.

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
JohnFen 2y ago
Replying to my comment to add a complete list of what's in the summer packs I'm handing out now. I also wanted to mention that I buy the items for these in bulk to keep costs down, and that the letter I include has ideas and instructions for how to get the most use out of the kit, such as using the mylar blanket+ziplock bag as a makeshift solar water heater. Also, I select items with an eye toward covering things that aren't readily available from other services. 1 first aid kit (3 Antibiotic packets; 3 Hydrocortisone Packets; 6 Ibuprofen Packets; 6 Bandaids; 1 large bandage; 3 Sunscreen packets) 1 tuna snack 1 granola bars 1 mylar blanket 1 hot hands 6 wet wipes 1 travel kleenex 1 pair socks 2 sanitary pads 1 chap stick 1 toothbrush cover 1 can opener 14 q tips 1 toothbrush/toothpaste 1 Applesauce pack Everything is packaged in a gallon-sized ziplock freezer bag.
- bell-cot 2y ago
  Thank you! Have you considered adding any of: - A few strips of duck tape, with peel-off backing. Those might be used for repairing shoes / clothing / makeshift shelters, improvising pressure braces for weak joints, and securing the mylar blanket or other possessions in windy conditions. - Several sheets of "quality" tear-off paper towel. Cheap, and they're fairly good as ersatz washcloths and sponges - A plastic hair comb
  - JohnFen 2y ago
    I love the tape idea! And including some paper towels seems like a no-brainer. One of the uses I suggest for the sanitary pads is as sponges. That is, after all, what they are. Just super-absorbant sterile ones. I used to include a comb, but stopped because they're easy to get from other places, they sometimes damaged other things in the bag, and they were often discarded. I also used to include nail clippers, but couldn't find inexpensive ones that weren't really crappy, so I didn't think they carried their weight in terms of cost/benefit. I've been trying to find a way to include decent gloves (meaning ones that would be better than wearing one of the pairs of socks on your hands) in the winter kits for years, but I can't find any that fit into the budget. However, last year I teamed up with a sewing hobbyist who makes very warm and cozy hats. I couldn't put one in the packages, but carried a few with me and would give them separately on a more selective basis. Maybe we can expand that to gloves as well.