Weekly Outreach Reports – Summer
Weekly Outreach Report – September 4, 2026
Weekly Outreach Report – August 28, 2026
# served HSC: 78
# served Cotton St: 143
# Clinic rides: 9
This past Friday started overcast at the Homeless Services Center – but it was full of warmth. Nancy delivered six bags of sandwiches handmade by our amazing volunteer Lisa, whose ham & cheese has become legendary (“the best I’ve ever had!”). 💙
One gentleman spotted “HOPE” on our shirts and asked if Bob had come along – then gifted a volunteer a new nickname: “Hope.”
Bingo brought its own magic. A woman fell for a sloth prize, lost it to another winner… who then traded his prize just to give her the sloth. Pure generosity.
Then the sun broke through on Cotton Street where we served 143 people, running out of all 280 meals, water, milk, coffee, and lemonade. So many reunions, hugs, and reminders of how much every person matters.
This work holds it all – heartbreak, beauty, connection. If it speaks to you, come join us.
Support our efforts at www.hopesquadmaine.org/donate ☮️💜
Weekly Outreach Report – August 21, 2026
Served: 95 at HSC | 145 at Cotton St
A week of challenges AND celebrations! Susanna rejoined us on the street after being away – welcome back! With fewer volunteers, we got creative and focused on essentials: socks, shoes, underwear, and blankets. Our friends were understanding, but it’s a reminder that we need more hands on deck!
At the Homeless Services Center, it was clothing week which is always a little chaotic, always full of joy. A found bag of notebooks became the highlight: one man’s face lit up when he got one, When we ran out, a stranger gave up his own notebook so someone else could smile too.
We never know exactly what will make someone’s day. Sometimes it’s just a notebook. Sometimes it’s eye contact and a smile that says: We see you. We hear you. You matter. ✨
Weekly Outreach Report – August 14, 2026
Thanks to Jill Tabbutt for providing our report from Friday.
# Served HSC: 85
# St. served: 160
# Clinic Rides: 30
“It was a quiet morning at the Homeless Services Center. The food line was shorter than usual and moved quickly. We were done with food by 9:30! That meant an early start for Bingo, which made a bunch of folks very happy.
On the other hand, we had more people than ever at Cotton Street! Our newest volunteer, Ed, was able to show off his new Hope Squad T-shirt and settled in nicely with the flow of food distribution. We had a volunteer who was new to the street–Meg–and Jill oriented her to “The Ambulance Mall” for clothing distribution. That went well, too. We have a big sign that says, “3 items only!” for clothing inside the ambulance, and people really respected that. (They can get back in line for another “turn” if they still need more items.) Fran and Rae took a lot of pressure off the clothing crush inside the ambulance by distributing hats, underwear, socks, and tank tops on tables outside the ambulance (not included in the “3 items only” guideline).
It was hot, but not as hot as previous weeks. We had fans inside the ambulance, but didn’t need them. It was busy, but the volunteers knew what to do and filled in for each other as needed. The one BIG NEW feature this week came from one of our friends at Cotton Street, playing his guitar and singing at the edge of the food area. I was already inside the ambulance when he started, and I could hear him. It was lovely. Hopefully, he’ll come back and serenade us again!”
Weekly Outreach Report – August 7, 2026
# HSC served: 92
# Cotton St served: 160
# Clinic Rides: 13
We are so grateful to our Volunteer Laura Savard for being our outreach team leader, and for putting together this week’s report.
It was a hot day, and the shelter provided a welcome cooling space for our community members while volunteers set up our weekly spread. We are incredibly grateful for everyone’s hard work and dedication:
– Lisa: Provided 89 handmade sandwiches for the residents. We deeply appreciate the love and care that goes into making these.
– Debbie: Created another wonderful array of baked goods and snacks. Jill and Debbie made sure everyone in line received a great treat.
– Zahira: Brought in containers of self-care items, which the residents always appreciate.
– Steve: Handled double duty by handing out sandwiches and managing the headcount.
– Fran: Brought hard-boiled eggs, which are always a popular and quick source of protein.
– Elaine and Zach: Steadily served coffee and cocoa until it was all gone.
– Bingo: As always, this was a big hit that brought lots of laughter and smiles.
Over on Cotton Street, the city set up multiple tents and chairs so our community members could have shade while enjoying lunch and staying hydrated. Volunteers hustled to distribute cold water and drinks, and we made sure all the dogs with their owners received bowls of water as well. Our inventory of T-shirts and tank tops was also emptied quickly.
Everyone worked hard to stay cool, and there was no shortage of smiles and kindness shared between staff and residents. Seeing a community come together like this is exactly what the world needs, and I am so grateful to be part of the Hope Squad family.”
Weekly Outreach Report – July 31, 2026
HSC- 61 served
Cotton St.- 127 served
From our dedicated volunteer Steve Titcomb – THANK YOU
“Hope Squad seems to be serving fewer of our friends at HSC this summer, although Cotton Street remains busy as ever. Nevertheless, we consistently receive enthusiastic appreciation for our presence in each location. Our HSC friends tell us they look forward to Hope Squad’s arrival every Friday, saying things like, “Your being here makes Fridays the best day of our week”.
As usual, we arrived at Cotton Street to find a long line of our friends waiting patiently for us to complete setup and for the arrival of hot meals courtesy of Preble St. and Milestone. As always, the Portland Ambassadors were there early erecting shade canopies and tables and chairs at the end of Cotton St. Much work by our Hope Squad volunteers occurs behind the scenes, including the sorting and stocking of donated clothing items in our ambulance.
A big thank you to the South Portland Church of the Nazarene for providing Hope Squad a space to store, sort and label our clothing donations. Summer is a busy time for many of us, so we often find ourselves short staffed on Fridays. However, if a volunteer is unable to attend outreach, another one is always willing and able to jump in, and yesterday was no exception (thank you, Jill!!). We ran out of just about everything yesterday including food, pastries, water, milk and iced coffee. “
Weekly Outreach Report – July 24, 2026
# Served HSC – 64
# Served Street – 136
9 Clinic Runs
Thanks to Jill for her report of Friday’s outreach! It’s wonderful how so many came together to make it all work out for our neighbors living on the streets.
“It was a relatively quiet morning at the Homeless Services Center. Our usually chaotic monthly clothing event seemed somewhat organized, perhaps helped by us adding two extra tables for displaying the array of shirts, pants, shorts, dresses, and shoes. One surprise (to me) was how quickly the heavy hooded sweatshirts (new from American Roots!) were snatched up. The recent cool nights seem to have had an impact!
More surprises awaited us downtown on Cotton Street, which is a short street that dead-ends at Spring Street, near the Cross Arena. The sidewalk on Spring Street was busy with vendors, apparently connected to the current performer at the Arena; and the vendors’ vehicles were parked on both sides of Cotton Street. The city staff were able to squeeze through, clear space, and set up the tables and tents at the end of Cotton Street, where our homeless friends can sit and eat, out of the sun. The Milestone folks were able to drive in to deliver the noon meal, and then back out. And we had just enough space to back the ambulance up to the food area for clothing distribution after the food was served. It was more crowded than usual, but folks seemed to adapt well and to appreciate the extra effort needed to make the food and the clothing available to them.
Thanks to all who stepped up to help–it definitely takes a village!”
Weekly Outreach Report – July 17, 2026
# served HSC 87
# served Street 134
# Clinic runs 9
Thanks to our volunteer, Meghan for our awesome write-up this week!!
“When the seasons and weather change, so do the movements and lives of our friends on the street who are constantly at the mercy of the world around them. With the warmer days, there are often fewer people to serve at the Homeless Services Center on Riverside Street, as was the case this past Friday. Still, we served and connected with more than sixty friends in need of support. Given the extent of struggle experienced by even one person living in these conditions, the line of guests coming through reflected the full complexity of our shared humanity. Looking across the table, it’s easy to recognize the same qualities we encounter among our own friends, family and communities.
We were a “skeleton crew” on Friday, but everyone came together with a common goal: to provide a bit of nourishment in the form of sandwiches, treats, and toiletries while modeling the message on the back of our t-shirts:
We see you.
We hear you.
You matter.
One of the greatest joys of this work is doing that very first thing, meeting someone’s eyes, sharing a smile when it’s welcomed, and taking the time to acknowledge the person before us. Someone who may not have felt seen in a long time.
One of our volunteers is connected to a chicken farm, and whenever she joins the team, she brings hard-boiled eggs served in Dixie cups with salt and pepper. This was the case today, and these were a real treat and very well received.
A lot of friends were up for playing Bingo and it was quite amusing to listen to the banter between everyone. Despite their circumstances, many people in these dire situations bring light-heartedness and humor to those around them. It’s touching to see the way both community and generosity are formed and expressed in a group sharing such difficulty. Several of our “winners,” offered their prizes to a friend including a very soft stuffed puppy. It’s easy to understand why stuffed animals are such a favorite and bring genuine comfort in the face of the harshness that also exists in these surroundings.
While summertime might slow things down somewhat at the shelter, it has the opposite effect on the street where we gather in our cul-de-sac and hand out hot meals in bags along with more pastries, snacks and plentiful drinks. Here the impact of this summer’s heat was on full display.
At our street location, the line was packed and continued moving forward for two hours as each person walked away with a significant amount of food and snacks to take with them. A cool summer drink of lemonade or iced coffee brought a moment of normalcy.
Every week reminds us that simply showing up matters. Whatever the weather, we’ll keep being here—fostering hope, lending a hand, and reminding our friends that they are seen, they are heard, and they matter.”
Support our efforts at www.hopesquadmaine.org/donate ☮️💜
Weekly Outreach Report – July 10, 2026
Served at HSC – 101
# Served Cotton St – 130
7 Rides to the Clinic
Thanks Jill Tabbutt for a wonderful summary of Friday’s outreach!
“It was a relatively quiet day of Hope Squad outreach at the Homeless Services Center and on Cotton Street. It was still hot outdoors, but not as hot as last week–hooray! It seems like a long, long time ago that we were bringing full bins of winter coats to the street, and bringing them back empty. Now we’re bringing extra cases of bottled water, and still running out!
We continue to hear the sincere thanks of our friends at the shelter and on the street–sometimes just for showing up! One of our volunteers, Janene, brought a beautiful bouquet of flowers from her garden to put on the food table, between the pastries and the coffee. At the end of the morning, as we were leaving, she handed the bouquet to a woman we have seen there for many months. She was wearing a lovely dress yesterday, but seemed sad whenever one of us told her how beautiful she looked. When Janene handed her the bouquet, her energy suddenly shifted–“oh, you made me smile, and I’ve been having such a hard day–thank you!” I could hear her joy across the room.
I noticed some new faces at the shelter and realized that they might not be aware of what’s going on with our visits there every Friday. When we are done with sandwiches and pastries, we shift to the big snack bucket and personal care items. People who know the drill form a new line when they see the food line winding down, and wait patiently until we’re ready. I was serving sandwiches, and I saw a new face towards the back of the personal care line–I knew he hadn’t gone through the food line yet. So I went to him and asked if he wanted a sandwich or pastries. He said yes, so I explained that he could bypass the personal care line and come right up to the table for food. We talked a bit about what Hope Squad does on Friday mornings, and I could see his surprise and delight. That felt good–I think sometimes we take ourselves for granted, so it’s nice to see the response when new people learn about our outreach for the first time.
One last personal note: On Cotton Street, I was involved in the food line for the first time in a while. (I’m usually working with the clothing.) This gave me a chance to watch the interactions as folks came through the line, and then reached the end where Matt was pouring ice coffee. I was amazed at how many people Matt knows by name, and how happy they were to see him and greet him. It was even better when he accidentally poured ice coffee into a cup that he had cut the bottom out of, to make a paper megaphone! We have fun, especially when we can laugh at ourselves! Thank you, Matt, for being such an incredible friend to so many and role model to us volunteers.”
Weekly Outreach Report – July 3, 2026
# Served HSC: 93
# Served Cotton St: 107
# Clinic Rides: 9
Today’s report was written by our lovely “newer” Volunteer, Rae! Thanks for sharing a wonderful wrap up of today’s Street outreach during such extreme heat.
So proud of our volunteers for showing up and hanging in there for those two hours. Makes us truly appreciate what our unhoused neighbors have endured over the past few days. Thank you to this week’s sandwich makers: St Pius Church & ME Powered Bakery.
*******************
Now, let’s hear from Rae…
“The heat didn’t stop our friends and neighbors from coming out today – the Squad served 107 people on Cotton Street! Iced coffee, Gatorade, and water were flowing and everyone was making sure folks knew where they could go to beat the heat this weekend. Our fierce leaders, Matt & Nancy, both joined today, making it feel extra special.
As we head into the 4th of July, we will be celebrating what we’ve been able to build here; neighbors helping neighbors – checking in, showing up, and coming together; partnerships between the city and our nonprofits that grow stronger each year; and our belief in the infinite value of one another, regardless of circumstance.
Be safe and spread hope ✨❤️”
Support our efforts at www.hopesquadmaine.org/donate ☮️💜