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The first thing you need to do is not personalize societal failure as your personal problem. Don’t put too much on yourself.
If you’re looking to donate, partner with local groups who are making a difference. They’ll know what the local needs are right now. It’s a neverending problem, but certainly more acute right now.
On top of knowing the needs, such groups, generally, have the means to utilise the money more effectively dollar for dollar than an individual because they can buy wholesale and have deals with different companies.
Yo! I am unsure on how to maximize your help but I just want to say people like you are the real heroes. Thank you!
You are a good human.
I have heard clean dry socks and shoes are a huge necessity since your extremities get cold the fastest, especially if it's expected to snow or rain.
+1 I bought new shoes and decided to give my old ones away on the street. Wasn't hard, met some nice and appreciative people. Just watch out for people that obviously aren't your size, they'll just resell
They'll just resell
This isn't necessarily true. A lot of encampments develop social roles, there's often someone who can tend to wounds, someone who knows how to cook anything using a wide variety of heat sources, someone that keeps track of the individual needs of everyone else at the camp, someone who can cut hair, someone who collects stuff for distribution within the camp, etc.
In a lot of cases physical donations will end up at the camp and either be shared when possible or redistributed to a specific person that can use it.
There are of course unhoused people that don't make it to camps or who have left camps, and if they resell the boots, so what? You're still helping them.
Thrift store blankets, gloves, and coats? Definitely take them home and wash them first.
If you can get some MREs (meals ready-to-eat), those might be a good option for hot food you can give out. That way the meals are hot when they want them.
Whatever you end up doing, I applaud your efforts.
Edit: Yes, donating to a local shelter is nice, but OP specifically said they wanted to help those who could not take make it to a shelter.
Better than MREs is to donate to an active soup kitchen. They will use the cost of the MREs to make way more hot meals overall.
Most will also take socks, sleeping bags, toiletries, etc, but cash is likely the most useful. They know what they need the most.
Every homeless person I’ve asked why they aren’t at Jesus Saves (nickname of a shelter around here) getting warm and getting food, they tell me they’re banned from there.
The ones outside still are the ones who for whatever reason aren’t getting helped by those orgs. Maybe they caused trouble, maybe something else. But giving to those orgs is going to miss some people, and the people it’s going to miss are the ones you see outside in this cold.
How cold is "very cold"? I'm in Canada and right now it's -35C outside my house, approaching -50 with wind chill. If I was out there right now my main prep would be "holy shit get to any sort of shelter, outdoors is lethal tonight." I believe the city leaves the various transit centers open for people to bunk down in overnight under conditions like this.
Failing that, my first priority would probably be a wool blanket. Wool blankets are great at insulation, they work even when wet, and they can be folded up fairly compactly and worn as a shawl or cloak if a little mobility is needed. Though under tonight's conditions I wouldn't be mobile, I would have found the most sheltered place I could immediately reach and rolled up in the blanket in hopes I would actually wake up in the morning.
Cheapest I'd expect to find a good wool blanket for would be something like these $30 ones, so that's 6 or 7 blankets on your budget. Not too bad I suppose. Maybe there are cheaper places you could get some in bulk?
If I had sufficient blanket that I'm expecting to survive, my next concern would be frostbite taking my fingers, toes, or ears. So good warm mittens (for survival purposes in these conditions I'd prefer mittens over gloves), thick wool socks, and a hat might be good. Boots would be expensive and hard to ensure the right size for if you're giving this stuff out to random strangers, hopefully their footwear is loose enough that the thick wool socks will fit. I've always liked trapper hats, the chin strap keeps the ears and cheeks protected and ensures I don't lose it to a strong gust of wind or other circumstances. The nose would be left unprotected, so perhaps a scarf would be good to add to that - a scarf is like a little mini blanket and might be versatile if they need to wrap it around some other part of themselves for emergency cold protection.
This is all just off the top of my head, mind you. I've dealt with Canadian winters all my life but I've fortunately never had to deal with them as a homeless person, so I could easily be missing something.
Perhaps you could call up a homeless shelter and ask whoever's running it for advice? I'm sure they'd have more direct experience.
Wow, that is insanely cold. I'm glad there is shelter for the people in your city.
Thanks for your message - really appreciate the links as well. It will be -13 feeling like -23 with the windchill over the next few days. Here it will often be wet and cold rather than soft snow and cold so there is definitely a hypothermia/frostbite concern. I'll call up the shelters in the morning and see what would be most helpful; i will pick up some wool blankets if they have no particular preference.
If rain and wet snow are a common concern where you are then perhaps you could throw in some dollar store tarpaulins to go with the blankets. They'd be a cheap addition that could help by keeping them and their possessions dry. Even though wool can still insulate when wet it's certainly not pleasant and it adds a lot of weight.
The links were meant as illustrative, BTW, not necessarily a recommendation to buy those specific things. I haven't gone digging around for the best deals (and that would likely depend on your location as well).
I would take that over to the thrift store and buy as many coats as I could get, or you could take it to a warming shelter and let them use as they need.
Thank you for being a kind human, I only wish I had the funds to do the same before this cold snap hit.
First things that comes to mind about staying warm in cold weather is wool instead of synthetics/cotton and mittens rather than gloves.
Why not synthetics? Sure they smell worse than wool, but a synthetic fleece is very warm and will stay warm even when wet, and will dry faster than cotton.
For insulating stuff: dry socks, waterproof boots and gloves, blankets, sleeping bags, jackets, CLEAN cardboard layered several inches thick and sealed in plastic (wrap or trash bag) for use as a make shift sleeping pad.
For shelter: tents and tarps are always in demand. Just cutting the wind will help a lot and a tent can provide minimal insulation.
For active heating: Sternos, candles (once the wax is melted mix in hand sanitizer for a warmer heat), those hand warmer things, propane camping stoves (DANGEROUS. They are very effective, but 100% will be used in tents or under tarps which can very easily cause a fire or ventilation issues), you can also buy some 1lbs propane tanks and fill hose to siphon gas from a larger 20lbs tank (this might be illegal where you are).
You might want to check if any moving companies have some old blankets they are willing to donate (used to protect furniture, but if they toss them when they wear out can be useful for warmth or bedding). Also call up local theaters, zoos, aquariums, etc and ask if they would be willing to donate unclaimed lost and found clothing. This can be a good source of jackets. Also worth seeing what's in your thrift stores, especially if you have a smaller local one instead of Goodwill.
I recommend distroing cinder blocks along with the Sternos or candles. You can place those inside the block (so the flame hits the inside of the top) which helps contain the flame and resists getting knocked over. Another option is to hot glue some empty cans to a large flat piece of plywood. This cannot tip over even when kicked so it will provide a simple place for the heat producer to go. Just keep in mind not all unhoused people will want those safety devices as they are heavy and cumbersome, so don't get disheartened if they are turned down, but it doesn't hurt to have a few available and be prepared to demonstrate.
If you do choose to provide candles, Sternos, or ovens, be sure to also provide matches or lighters.
Oatmeal also is pretty easy to make and can serve several people. I use a stock pot and can cook about half a large container in one go, just dump it into some sealable bowls or whatever and serve it out of your trunk.
Follow up thought after sleeping on it. You might want to check with some outdoor retail stores, especially those that offer used gear. Some of them trash used gear that doesn't sell. I got 3 full Kia Souls worth of used tents that just had rips or a missing rain fly for free to distro from one such store. This particular avenue is more likely if you are working with a group that can give a tax deductable credit to the store for their donation. It doesn't hurt to ask or write an email, just do it when they're not too busy, be polite, and avoid coming off as too commie.
Some of them trash used gear that doesn’t sell. I got 3 full Kia Souls worth of used tents that just had rips or a missing rain fly for free to distro from one such store. This particular avenue is more likely if you are working with a group that can give a tax deductable credit to the store for their donation
will look into this, thank you!
Someone should collect the tents people leave after music festivals in the summer, and distribute them to unsheltered people in the winter.
For those who sleep outside and on the ground I'd say buy them insulated sleeping pads. I have a bit of experience camping during very cold temperatures. Insulating oneself from the ground is as essential as a blanket. Thermarest pads are going for as little as $10 on Ebay to $40 new at Dicks.
Provide them housing. It is effective and cheap in the sense that it can help a lot of people get back on their feet, which is worth a lot of taxes besides the basic human decency. Remember this until the next time you vote.
I'm not an expert but I've given out blankets and hand warmers before. They were very much appreciated
You are a kind person, but as others have said try not to take on this large burden yourself. Do what you’re comfortable with and be satisfied with that. This is an ongoing and largely intractable problem that you cannot solve alone.
An adult has the right to take on burdens as they see fit.
Vote.
I'd like to add in emergency blankets, didn't notice them in the other comments. They're cheap, take up little space, and can provide some extra warmth and water resistance to jackets/blankets/tents. I pass them around like candy in my area
Edit: Looks like I'm talking the same thing as thermal blankets, I've just always heard them referred to as emergency blankets
I thought about a lot of variants, but I stopped at a gas can, a simple device to make the gas out and a basic tripod to weight a pot over it. If they have it, they can boil water for tea or just clean water, food bought in bulk in a grocery store, to wash themselves.
It greatly depends on what they have for now. Maybe a tent is in more priority if they don't have one, or even something to lay on.
~~Honestly? Just give the $200 to the shelter to spend on whatever they think they need. As someone who used to volunteer at a no-kill shelter, everybody wants to donate a bag of dog food but no one wants to donate cash. After a certain point, we were throwing away old stock of unopened dog food because we ran out of storage for it.~~
Edit: completely misread the part about helping people specifically not in a shelter. My main point still stands though, I think most unhoused people would take the cash over material goods.
...bro
?
Reread OPs post
Your edit is still...
You know we're not talking about dogs here, right homie?
And if yes... You don't really think there are homeless shelters that are... Not "no-kill", right?
You know we're not talking about dogs here, right homie?
Yes, but the point still stands. Everyone loves the grand gesture of walking in and plopping a 20lb bag of chow on the counter or heroically presenting a homeless man on the corner with a brand new The North Face coat with tags on it.
I'm speaking from an American perspective for this next part, so if OP isn't from America they can disregard it, but the whole gift-giving ritual (which this is) makes people feel embarrassed for giving cash outright, like "oh, you couldn't think of anything to get them?" It's a difficult truth to swallow but the truth is that most community closets, food banks, etc. are more than stocked with the goods themselves. Homeless people in most of the country have at least some access to these basic goods. What they don't have is money to save for either A) their specific needs that only they know about or B) some sort of safe housing arrangement.
Same thing I saw when I volunteered at a shelter. Americans love the warm feeling they get when they give someone less successful than them a physical item, but the second you tell them the cash would be more useful they get indignant. It shatters their illusion that they, and they alone, were making some huge expenditure.
You know sometimes it's better to say "oops I was wrong"
Find information about where warming shelters are, and distribute that information. Pass the information along.
Also obviously if you have any cold weather gear you can spare, that’s helpful.
