By Co-Founder, Nancy Brown
As we reflect on the past year, the numbers tell a story of unwavering dedication and community support behind every Friday outreach. By tracking our efforts more closely, we’ve discovered that volunteers have collectively donated over 7,000 hours—both on the ground and behind the scenes—to make our outreaches possible. Thanks to the generosity of the community, roughly $90,000 worth of physical goods have been donated, and our volunteers work tirelessly to process and deliver these contributions directly to Portland’s unhoused.
In addition to these tangible contributions, our team has fostered over 8,000 individual interactions and connections, a testament to the warmth and commitment shared at each outreach. Today, more than 35 volunteers participate in outreach, coordinate logistics, transportation, organization, and administration —a significant growth from November 2022, when just Matt and Nancy were handing out hot chocolate from tent to tent.
We share these statistics not to boast, but to highlight the immense collective effort and community generosity that fuels our mission every week. It is the people behind the scenes—and the caring community at large—that make our outreach a meaningful and effective force for change.