“The difference between a helping hand and an outstretched palm is a twist of the wrist.”  ~Laurence Leamer

Mission:

Homeless Gear Outreach Video (Produced by Fort Collins City Cable 14)

HG Programs:

• Clothing Bank & Gear Room
• Night Street Outreach
• Children In Need
• Non Perishable Food & Take-Away Meals
• Youth In Need
• Monthly (Adult) & Quarterly (Children/Family) Distributions

The mission of Homeless Gear is a simple one.  Collect unwanted Outdoor Gear (packs, sleeping bags, tents, tarps, etc), Outdoor Basic Clothing (coats, rain gear, boots, etc), Hygiene Products (deodorant, disposable razors, shampoo, etc) and Non Perishable Readily Comsumable Food (granola bars, instant oat meal, fruit rollups, peanut butter crackers, etc) & re-distribute these items to the homeless.  We want to make the days more bearable and the nights survivable for homeless men, women, youth, and children as they struggle to regain self sufficiency.

The focus of our Children in Need program (click here for more details) is to provide homeless and near homeless children basic clothing, hygiene items, and other essentials.  Our goal is to provide these children with basic necessities to ensure that they are protected from the elements, able to meet basic health and hygiene needs, allow them to actively participate in school and simply to help bolster their self esteem and provide as much normalcy in their lives as possible.

Realities of Homelessness:

Red, Sable (dog), Tammy and Rick receive two packs and a sleeping bag from Homeless Gear.

A segment of the homeless community can not gain entrance into an overnight shelter because there are no more beds available or they have issues with drug or alcohol use.  Even if they do find overnight shelter they have to spend the majority of their day outside in the rain or snow.  Imagine what a warm coat, a good pair of boots, a blanket, or sleeping bag could do for someone forced to sleep or spend the day or night in their car or outside exposed to the elements.

A large percentage of the homeless move from one location to another and need a means of transporting and storing their personal belongings.  If they are not on the move they risk losing all of their personal belongings if they don’t carry everything with them.  A pack (any size) is perfect to help them organize, store, and transport their personal property.  Trash bags, cardboard boxes, shopping carts, and other similar containers simply don’t meet the needs of someone constantly on the move.

Why The Need For Non Perishable Food?

• The homeless need more calories to fight off the cold and to offset the large amount of calories burned given the amount of walking they do.
• Many seek day labor very early in the morning or have jobs at odd hours and miss regular meal times at the shelter.
• Many are not able to get into the shelter.
• They have nothing to take with them to store in their packs for the times when they can’t get to the locations serving meals.
• The juice boxes that we provide helps to ensure proper hydration especially during extremely hot weather.